Contact at the Citadel
by wilkins75
Summary: Sequel to Contact of Kobol and Contact of Races. Earth and other worlds are united in the Tau'ri Alliance, with the advance technology from the Ancients and the Asgard they are the most advanced culture in the Galaxy. Now they must travel to a distant galaxy to finish the mission of the Destiny only to contact the Citadel Council and the Reapers. (Stargate Sg1/Mass Effect)
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1 Goodbye**

President Samantha Carter, the 1st President of the Tau'ri Alliance stood outside of the massive capital building of the Tau'ri alliance. Before her was the finished capital city of the Tau'ri from this city 10 worlds with populations in the billions and dozens more with smaller population was ruled from. In truth since the Tau'ri alliance formed almost 15 years ago in October 2020 the control of the Tau'ri now spread over 35% of the Milky way galaxy and 20% of the Pegasus galaxy. From the massive building behind her representatives from worlds like Lanagara the first world to join the Alliance, Valhalla the 1st world colonized by the people of Earth and then later by New Athos and New Sera the first two worlds to join the alliance from outside the Milky way galaxy made the laws to govern the Tau'ri alliance.

Carter let out a heavy sigh, life was so much easier when she was a member of SG1 and only had to worry about the next threat to come out of the stargate. Now as President she had to deal with all the political crap that made her want to rip her hair out. Still she had to admit deep down she did enjoy being President and forging the path that the Tau'ri would follow.

So many things had changed over the past 15 years, back in 2020 when the world first learned about the Stargate program space travel was the stuff of science fiction. Now ships ranging from massive warships, to cargo ships and luxury space liners departed the major worlds of the Tau'ri alliance every day. Since that day in 2020 the people of Earth who came together as the Tau'ri alliance had spread across space uniting with smaller worlds growing and advancing. Now with peace treaties such as the treaty of Gaia and smaller worlds joining them, the Tau'ri alliance controlled 30% of the Milky Way galaxy and was the dominate power.

They hadn't reached the level they were at now without conflict only weeks after the unmasking of the Stargate Program and the official formation of the Tau'ri alliance a group of 12 human worlds called the 12 colonies of Kobol carried out a nuclear strike on the 1st colony world of the Tau'ri, Valhalla. This sparked a 4 year long war which ended in an overwhelming Tau'ri victory. Next came conflict with a much smaller and weaker power called the Empire by their own people but called the Empire of the Race by the Tau'ri. The conflict for the liberation of a single world, Ovea lasted a few hours and was another Tau'ri victory. The victory of Ovea gave the Tau'ri access to a rare metal, Zephray which was keep to provide them the missing link to make power sources known as ZPMs.

Tau'ri space ranged outside of the Milky Way galaxy spreading to the Pegasus galaxy where after the defeat of the Wraith, the Tau'ri became the largest organized military power in the galaxy. There was dozens of smaller powers some of whom had space flight but thousands of years of harvesting by the wraith had left their populations small and technology backwards in comparison to the Tau'ri who had built on the legacy of the Asgard and the Ancients. They where the 5th Race and they where taking up the role left to them by the Asgard and by the Ancients.

"President Carter are you alright?" Said her long-time aid, Walter. He had a look of concern over his face as Carter nodded her head.

"I am alright, just thinking." admitted Carter

"I understand Madam President." Said Walter "If you need anything."

"I will be fine." confirmed Carter as she looked at area around her again. It was a beautiful day, a perfect day in truth but it was a day of sadness and morning. The main boulevard leading from the spaceport of the combined Tau'ri Capital city on Earth was lined with people on either side of the street. The civilians stood in grandstands while in front of them columns of Tau'ri soldiers all in their dress uniforms stood at ease. She saw a lot of them waving the blue and silver flag which had become the symbol of the united Tau'ri. The Tau'ri flag flew from polls lining the buildings of the way but they were joined by pure black flags. The entire massive floating city which was the heart of the Tau'ri government was at a standstill, in truth every world of the alliance was at a standstill as the images where broadcasted out across the galaxy and beyond.

At the center of the city stood the Tau'ri congress building, the massive building with its stone columns was where the representatives and senators of the different Tau'ri worlds came together to govern. Now massive black banners hung from in between the columns with a single larger Tau'ri banner hanging from the center main entrees. It was here that President Samantha Carter stood alongside the leaders of the Tau'ri and other powers in the galaxy. The Nox, normally a shy race had come out in force for this event, the Tok'ra had sent a delegation along with every free Jaffa and Lucian Alliance faction had sent a delegation. The President of the 12 colonies the newly elected Gaius Baltar stood beside his wife who was in truth a humanoid Cylon. A Cylon delegation was here as well along with the Prince Unia of Ovea, his insect body standing out in the crowd.

"Hard to believe isn't it." Said Doctor Daniel Jackson as he stood beside his president, former teammate and life long friend, beside him stood another former member of SG and the current Vice President Jonas Quinn. All of them where in their best cloths, black suits, pantsuits and dresses. Teal'c and other free Jaffa nations where wearing their traditional robes colored a deep black in respect for Tau'ri customs.

"It is." confirmed Teal'c as he stood to the other side of her. Beside him stood now General Mitchell former head of SG1 now head of Stargate Command. Another General, General Sheppard commander of all Tau'ri forces in the Pegasus Galaxy stood beside Michael with former members of his team. The military members wore their uniforms with black bands over their arms.

"At least he went out in a way he would have found…funny." said Mitchell as a sad smile crossed his face.

"Truth." confirmed Carter as the sound of horse hooves on pavement reached her ears. It shouldn't have been possible for her to hear the sound being so far off but she did. Then he appeared at the far end of the road, he was only a small outline of figure on horseback, the TV cameras and multiple screens brought him closer into view. It was a single soldier on a black stallion, he wore the dress uniform of a Tau'ri honor guard, all black with silver bands and no rank markings. With a quick movement the man on horseback drew an old fashion cavalry saber and raised it up.

"Battalions!" he yelled as his order was picked up by the thousands of Tau'ri soldiers lining the road. Then he brought the sword to his shoulder. "Attention!"

With that all of them snapped to attention, their rifles slamming against shoulders and everyone coming to attention. Officers had given swords for this moment and stood before their lines with swords resting against their shoulder. Flag barriers stood by each Battalion, three flags each, one barring the symbol for the division that the battalion were here today, one being the home nation or world that first formed that division and lastly the blue and silver Tau'ri flag. Behind the rows of soldier's grand stands had been set up and they were filled to capacity with civilians who had come out this day.

"Present arms!" ordered the officer on Horseback as they thousands of man and women in uniform presented arms.

The rider moved forward passing by the ranks the sound of the horse's hooves on the road rung through the air, when he had gone about a hundred yard a large column of men and women came around the corner where he had been. Each one of them holding a flag of the a member of the Tau'ri Alliance be it a national flag or a world flag. With the Tau'ri flag in the front, hanging from each of the poles was a black ribbon.

Behind them came four pairs of tanks rolled down the street their gun barrels aimed high and their commanders standing up in their copulas. Behind them came more military vehicles and soldiers in formation, these men and women marched in perfect formation with bayonets attached their rifles shinning in the sun. Military bands followed behind the soldiers each playing a mournful tune. The band members like all the soldiers and the civilians whore black arm bands on one arm. Hanging form high rise buildings where more black banners and the Tau'ri flag. After the band came a group of free Jaffa warriors who had their staff weapons held straight forward pointing down. There sign of respect and like the Tau'ri they were in here to honor as well.

Then it came around the corner, another group of soldiers followed by more soldiers only these where on horseback and formed a V shape formation in front of another body of men, women and horses. Three of them carried flags, the center one being the Tau'ri flag with the flag of the United States of America to one side and on the other side the flag containing the seal of Stargate Command. The other four soldiers marched on either side of the flags with swords raised.

Carter's heart felt like it had taken yet another blow as she saw the six-draft horse team pulling an old fashion artillery caisson. Of the six horses only three had riders, the rest had none but it was what they were pulling that mattered. Sitting on the caisson wrapped in a Tau'ri flag was a single casket. Marching to the side the casket was an honor guard of seven soldiers on each side. Behind the coffin walking came the family members, in truth she and so many people standing with her right now should have been with the family but duty placed her here. As the casket passed the civilians began to toss flowers over the heads of the soldiers and unto the road until it became covered with flowers. Soldiers where breaking down in tears as they watched the casket pass.

Sam didn't say anything as it entered the large rounding round which surrounded the capital building, tanks and other vehicles sat there with their barrels raised in salute. Their commanders and crew standing outside at attention, tears clearly visible on some while others fought them back. Unit after unit passed by all in their best parade ground formation and with perfect uniforms as the first fly overs began. The first was the Adder attack helicopters followed by larger and larger ships, even massive battleships where taking part as the Tau'ri said goodbye.

It was the sound of horse hooves that finally got to her as finally a group of horse mounted soldiers moved into the area right in front of her. Unlike the other units which had peeled off to either side this one stood as two columns formed and finally an old fashion gun carriage being drawn by six pure white horse with only three riders moved up between the columns of mounted soldiers. As it passed each of them drew a saber and placed it first in front of their face before resting it on their shoulders. On either side of the carriage marched four soldiers in the honor guard uniform of the Tau'ri. Flying from the back of the carriage was the Tau'ri flag along with the flag of the United States of America, a sign of which military he had joined all those decades ago until it was folded into the new Tau'ri military. Another horse was behind them this one without a rider and the boots turned backwards in the stirrups. A flag draped coffin sat on the carriage as the one of if not the greatest hero in the history of the Tau'ri arrived, General Johnathan O'Neill better known as Jack O'Neill had arrived at the Capital where he would lie in state.

"He went out the way he would have wanted, I think." Said General Mitchell as the honor guard moved to carry the coffin containing General O'Neill into the building. Each one of the guard dressed in an all black uniform, not in Navy White, Army gray, Marine navy or Air force Royal. These honor guards wore black and handled the coffin with white gloves. "Fishing."

"Indeed." said Teal'c with as much emotion as anyone had heard in his voice, as Sam had to give a sad smile. Jack had been found dead on his lake side cabin dock with a fishing pole in his hand and a beer sitting beside his folding chair. An autopsy by the Head of the Tau'ri Medical Center and some of the best doctors on Earth had confirmed that the 84 year old General had died in his sleep while taking a nap while he fished off his dock.

"It is just a shame, his generation and ours in some parts will not be able to take full effects of the new medical technology." Said Sam before shaking her head. "Then again, I could see Jack causing a lot of trouble if he lived another 75 years."

"Indeed." Confirmed Teal'c as the coffin was lifted off the carriage and onto the shoulders of the eight men who would carry the coffin up the multiple flight of steps toward the congress building. The path was protected by another line of soldiers each one of them holding either a rifle or a flag of a nation of the Tau'ri. As the Coffin passed the flag was lowered slightly as a sign of honor for the man who was passing them by. Behind the thin honor line were the members of the Tau'ri house and Senate, other governmental officials and foreign leaders.

The steps leading up to the entrees to the hall where flanked by soldiers from different units, as the coffin of the fallen General and Hero of the Tau'ri passed they snapped to attention. Carter held her breather and fought back tears as the coffin carrying her friend and teammate passed by. Behind the coffin walked Jack's clone who had become basically a son later on in life. Younger jack was joined by his wife and kids, Jack's Grandchildren.

"Sam." said Jack as he hugged the President who went around to hug the rest of the family.

"Aunt Sam." said the oldest of the three children, Samantha O'Neill with tears as she hugged her the woman who was family in all but name. "Grandpa is gone."

"He is, now we have to be strong for him." said Sam as she joined the rest of the O'Neill's on their way up the stairs. They passed through the columns which graced the outside of the building and entered one of the main halls leading into the rotunda. Since Jack was a military man he entered through the military hall where statues, busts and other artwork of great military leaders and heroes where displayed. They passed through the artwork such as paintings of George Washington, a Statue of Alexander the Great, General Sun Tzu along with others. Then they entered the main rotunda where more honor guard stood waiting three rings. The inner most guards stood around a resting place where the coffin containing the body of General O'Neill would lie in state raised swords to present as other guards brought the body to a resting place before backing up and snapping into perfect salutes. Behind them in the second ring, more guards stood with old fashion bolt action rifles with bayonets fixed and at attention as well. The third and largest ring which ran around the entire length of the circle shaped room with only gaps being for the four hallways leading into the room. They held the blue and silver flags of the Tau'ri or the flags of the Tau'ri armed forces.

Carter and the others formed a large group between the guards holding the swords and the ones holding the rifles. Carter, the former members of Sg1 and Jack's family in the center however other close friends from Jack's life where also presented along with high government and military officials. They crowed into the space until they formed a half circle around the coffin. On the other side where religious leaders from all the major religious of the Tau'ri, not just from Earth but from Lanagara and the other worlds in Tau'ri space. Even so since Jack was a roman catholic even if he wasn't a practicing Roman Catholic the Pope himself would have the longest prayer over the body.

 **On the Tau'ri world of Valhalla like every other world within Tau'ri space billions of people where watching the state funeral for General Jack O'Neill.** Flags flew at half-staff and governmental buildings where draped in black, watching from his office was the General in command of all Tau'ri forces in the system, General Young. He stood watching the proceeding on his holographic TV in his office with a drink in his hand.

"Here's to you General." said General Young as he raised a glass to the honor of the fallen hero of the Tau'ri. Shaking his head slightly he remembered when General O'Neill then director of Home World defense had offered him the chance to take part in the Destiny program to discover the greatest secret in the galaxy. It was a program that the Ancients themselves had started but never got a chance to finish and the Tau'ri planned to finish it. They did have some major setbacks, first with only getting a small team to the Ancient Ship the Destiny and being stranded on countless trillions of lightyears away. He had taken command of that small group which after a stay of multiple years in cryo-sleep they had been rescued they had come back to a very different universe. The nations of Earth had come together to form the Tau'ri and the stargate program which had been the most carefully guarded secret was public knowledge along with a full-scale war with another power in the galaxy.

Even as the Colonial War waged on the deep seeded need of the Tau'ri to reach out to the next horizon was still burning. Their rescue came from supergate which had been built by the ancients to transport a crew to the Destiny for the final part of their mission. Now the Destiney sat beside that supergate in the distance part of the galaxy. The plan was originally for the Tau'ri to repair the ship and finish the mission but it was soon determined that the ship had been left unmanned for too long and it was beyond the point of repair. The Destiny the ship which had been launched millions of years ago by the ancients wouldn't go any more. Still the need to finish what the Ancients had started filled the minds of the Tau'ri and a new plan was formed.

They couldn't send a new ship through the Milky Way Supergate capable of replacing with the Destiny and finishing the mission. So a new type of ship was designed, the Prometheus class deep space recon ship, a ship which could be cut up into small parts sent through a supergate to the far side of universe only to be reassembled. Once reassembled it would be able to finish the mission of the Destiny. The problem was that even with the Milky Way supergate because of the great distance they had to cover to the Destiny Supergate the parts that could be sent through was too small meaning that the Milky Way gate couldn't be used to send the broken up recon ship to the Destiny Gate. So instead of building a single Prometheus class ship they were building two.

The first, the Prometheus II named after the first warship the Tau'ri had would carry out a mission to a distance galaxy called the Torch Galaxy. Using that as a launching point they would build a supergate and send the pieces of the second Prometheus class ship, the Destiny II to the Destiny Supergate to be put together and launched to finish the mission of the original Ancient Destiny.

Young had just finished his drink when the phone on his desk rang, this was a new holographic video phone and was actually built into his desk. He had a mobile version of coarse, but the hard line was more secured and therefor was used for classified matters. He tapped the phone pad only to see the last face he wanted to see, Dr. Rush.

"Rush, what do I owe the honor of the call?" inquired General Young as he looked at the man who he had butted heads against, to call it mild while on the Destiny.

"Why have we delayed the launch of the Prometheus II it is ready to go." Said Rush who had an unending drive to finish the mission of the Destiny.

"Rush, you have seen the news, haven't you?" inquired Young "We delayed the launch by only a week, most of the key people are at the funeral right now including the head of the mission Dr. Jackson."

"The delay wasn't needed, we could launch the ship and then using the onboard stargate people can travel back and forth as needed." Countered Rush "The Prometheus is ready, we should return to the time schedule."

"Rush, you have almost a year in travel time to the Torch galaxy it should actually be 18 months, but high command is giving you 4 ZPMs right off the assembly line so be happy with that." stated General Young as Rush glared at him. Both of them knew that while not up to the level of their ancient counterparts the current generation of ZPMs created by the Tau'ri was by far the biggest source of power that the Tau'ri had. The current generation of ZMPs took almost a year to make using Naquadah and other elements with the key part being the element Zephry found only on the allied world of Ovea. So far less than 40 had been produced and most where going to the warships of the Tau'ri fleet, four for this mission meant that 10% of the current stockpile of ZMPs where in a single project. "A week delay will not make any deference."

"Very well." said Rush in a resigned voice as if he had a choice. "I guess I will review the recon data from our target locations."

"Still no sign of any life in the area?" inquired Young happy that Rush was acting his age.

"No, of the 9 recon drones we have sent, none of them have detected any sign of advance life." Admitted Rush

"So no ships in hyperspace, no radio or other communication broadcasts?" inquired Young, this was strange and didn't sit right. "The probes detected nothing?"

"In their defense the areas they are monitoring and gathering information on are all around black holes which we need to power the supergate." stated Rush "

"Still it is concerning, more recon will be needed." said Young as he thought about it, launching probes wasn't an option. The Prometheus would actually beat them to the Torch galaxy, then it hit him. "I will recommend that once we get near to the Torch galaxy we send some of the ships we are carrying out to do more recon."

"Very well." said Rush Looks like our primary spot to assembly the gate will be the best."

The image on the screen changed to show a map of the planned construction site for the supergate. Instead of one large black hole there was instead 4 smaller black holes which according to the report moved around each other in a cosmic dance. A glowing dot in the center showed where they wanted to build the gate.

"The four black holes will provide all the power we need but they will be far enough away from each other that we will not experience any time dilation when we build the gate." Added Rush as two routes where highlighted. "This may matter to you but the black holes will protect the sides meaning that there will be only two ways toward the gate."

"So we can mass our defenses to protect that bottleneck." Stated Young "But won't these black holes in time crash into each other and effect the gate."

"Yes." confirmed Rush "However that is millions of years in the future."

"Alright, the other sites are just as good?" inquired Young

"Not as good as this one but they would work if we have too." Stated Rush as his image reappeared on the screen. He visibly checked his watch before looking back at Young. "I will let you go, I need to get something to eat."

Without another word Rush's image disappeared as Young let out a resigned sigh.

"Goodbye." said Young to the already black image, Rush was never that personal and that had not changed across the years. "Maybe when he is a couple of galaxies away from me he will finally be out of my hair."

 **After the former ceremonial the great hall where General O'Neill lied in state was open to the public and those who had been waiting outside entered to say their goodbyes to the hero of the Tau'ri.** While thousands passed by above them the elite and powerful moved down below the great hall to the dinning hall. The hall was where large formal dinners as well as feeding the massive amounts of people who worked in the building. All the tables where covered with the best table covers and the best chefs from across Tau'ri space where working together to feed the guests of this private wake.

Standing in the far corner watching all the political and military leaders talk stood a young man in a Tau'ri marine dress uniform. He watched the crowds 90% of whom had never actually met the man who they where honoring, in truth he had only meet General O'Neill a hand full of times but still the loss likely hit him worse then most of the people out there. Yes, from his location he could see the core of General O'Neill friends and loved ones where gathered in a tighter smaller group. He could see his childhood friend Samantha O'Neill standing with her namesake President Carter. He remembered when he and Sam where kids running around Atlantis with the small handful of other children.

"Back then Life was so simple." whispered Torren John Sheppard. That was before he learned that the man he called his father wasn't his biological father but had actually killed him. Yes it was an accident and he didn't blame him for it but it was still a shock to learn that the man he called Dad had shot down the Wraith Dart who's wreckage crashed on his father killing him. Even after he learned that he still took the last name of the man who had raised him like his own son, John Sheppard. He turned his brown eyes toward his father and mother who stood talking with Uncle Ronan and Uncle Mckay. The four of them had made up Atlantis first recon team, more commonly called SGA-1. His little sister, Elizabeth who looked like a young version of his mother only with the darker hair color of her father, John was talking with the younger O'Neill kids.

"Did you say something?" inquired the person beside him, Ashley Williams. The two of them had meet on the battlefields of Tauron and had stuck together almost ever since. Both had gone to college at Daniel Jackson university and pushed as hard as possible to get top marks in their field. They had skipped summer and holidays breaks to instead spend time in different specialty schools ranging from parachute jump school to zero gravity combat training.

"Talking to myself." answered Torren as Ashley nodded her head. She looked over in the direction he had been looking, toward General John Sheppard. To her he was almost as big of Hero as the man who was lying in state above them, he had fought against the Wraith in the Pegasus Galaxy and won.

"Well as long as you don't start answering yourself we should be good." stated Ashley as she took a drink. "Have you received your assignment yet for the fleet?"

"Not yet, I just got promoted so who knows what I will get." Said Torren as reached up and touched the golden oak leaf on his collar. He was slightly young to hold the rank, being only 29 but the war raised everyone's ranks pretty fast and unlike most he had stayed in after the war. He was a Major now, which meant he was a middle of the road off officer. He would normally be in assigned to command a company of between 80 and a 150 men but he had taken the special forces route and would likely command a much smaller group.

"I don't know either, not if it is just oversight or something else." stated Ash

"Likely deciding what to do with us." Stated Torren "The three of us, you, Sam and I all requested to be on the same ship together. So they need to find a slot for the three of us."

"And Sam isn't even military." Stated Ash before shrugging. "Well not fully, she volunteered for this expedition to this Torch galaxy and has taken some combat training but she is a doctor not a warrior."

"Truth." said Torren as he took a drink. "We will just have to wait to see where they put us."

 **Acacai Lefeld formal Acacai Davas looked at the crowds around her with a little bit of worry.** She was likely one of a handful of Colonial citizens on Earth at the moment and she was likely the only one who wasn't a member of the diplomat party with the President. She was a former Colonial Army private who had meet her future husband on the battlefield when captured her and her best friend.

"You ok Acacia?" inquired Robert as he stood beside her in the long line to wait to see the coffin of General Jack O'Neill as he lied in state. Robert along with other members of his unit the 101st airborne had been chosen to take part in the ceremony and she had come to Earth with him.

"Just a little worried." admitted Acacia as she lowered her voice. "I know how some people feel about Colonials."

Robert smiled and nodded his head in understanding, even years after the war between the Colonials and the Tau'ri there was still a lot of hard feelings between some of the general population. Robert being Tau'ri and most of all a Tau'ri soldier wasn't welcomed on Sagittarian which still had terrorist groups trying to overthrow the new religious freedom laws and reclaim the holy world of Kobol or as the Tau'ri called it Vahalla. It was the religious differences and control over that world which had been the root cause of the war which left 75 million colonials dead with a tiny fraction of Tau'ri dead. Most of the Tau'ri dead came from the Colonial Nuclear strike on Vahalla which had started the war.

"Don't worry about it." reassured Robert as he put his arm around his wife of only a few months. "Remember you are Tau'ri too now."

"I know." admitted Acacia, she had become a duel citizen when she had married him. She smiled at the memory both of the day and the fact that they didn't have to deal with the whole duel religion thing anymore. She hadn't converted to Robert's faith and he wasn't worshiping the Lords of Kobol so a duel ceremonial was done. She had worn a silver dress which fell in line with the traditions of her faith instead of the common white most Tau'ri seemed to have. He wore his dress uniform instead of the traditional robes that a groom wore in the colonies. There where countless smaller trades back and forth but it was still the happiest day of her life so far. "Sometimes I forget."

"I understand." said Robert with a smile as they reached the first set of stairs which would take them up to the capital building. "I still have issues with your bathroom system in the colonies."

That brought a smile to Acacia's face as she remembered how Robert like so many other Tau'ri freaked out when they have to deal with the colonial habit of just having a single large public bathroom in businesses instead of one for each gender. A little more at easy Acacia's eyes began to take in the view around her.

Acacia was still amazed as she looked around at the Capital city of the Tau'ri. It was far beyond anything that her people back home could do. The tall skyscrapers which reached up toward the sky with almost impossible thin points and graceful points. All the technology would scare to death almost everyone of a certain age in the colonies, the older generation still feared Technology because of the Cylon war. The younger generation, herself included didn't have that fear technology like their seniors however since contact with the Tau'ri more and more Colonials lost their fear of advance technology.

In truth more and more Colonials where adopting more Tau'ri line of thinking, she wasn't the first Colonial to marry a Tau'ri. She was among the first but not the first and according to the news, more Colonials where attempting to sign up with join the Tau'ri military then signing up to join the shadow of what remained of the Colonial Military. Tau'ri credits sometimes called Tau'ri dollars where worth more than Colonial Cubit and accepted every place in the colonies. Some business on Aquaria where the Tau'ri had their largest base accepted only Tau'ri money.

It wasn't totally smooth even years after the official end of the war there was still Tau'ri military operations against religious terrorists mostly on Sagittarian and Gememon. It was hard for the religious die hard to accept freedom of and from religion, even so the writing was on the wall. More and more people in the colonies where openly following different religions something that would have been unthinkable only a decade ago. Some of the new faiths where homegrown and predated the Colonial/Tau'ri war but where now in the open. Still others had taken some of the Tau'ri religions which they had picked up from interaction through soldiers, official missionary trips where illegal for both sides under the treaty but it still got through. Some had even started placing Tau'ri religious symbols beside those of the Lords of Kobol. It wasn't uncommon now to find statues of Tau'ri religious figures next to those of the Lords of Kobol on dinner table. In the apartment they had on Libran, there was both a crucifix and a statue of Zeus at the end of a hallway.

She let out a sigh again and looked around, all around people where in tears and had a sense of gloom. Tau'ri where in honoring the fallen General. She didn't know much about General O'Neill only that he was a hero to every single Tau'ri she had met, when word came of his death all the Tau'ri flags where lowered and out of respect President Baltar ordered the colonial flags lowered as well.

"Not the way I wanted to visit the capital or Earth." admitted Acacia

"Me neither, I haven't been here before either." admitted Robert with a shrug "But we have 5 days on Earth before I have to report back to base and you have to go back to work."

"True." Confirmed Acacia as they kept moving toward the main hall to honor the fallen hero Jack O'Neill.

 **Flight Lieutenant Jeff Moreau more often called Joker sat in the pilot chair of the TAV (Tau'ri Alliance Vessel) Normandy, before him was Vahalla.** As always, the space around the first civilian colony the Tau'ri set up was full, it didn't help that even with the addition of dry docks and ship assembly points across Tau'ri space that this was still the prime world for the construction of Tau'ri Warships. Only place in the galaxy which likely had more traffic was the sol system but that had three populated worlds with Earth and a terraformed Mars and Venus.

Aside from the ships and space stations which protected the world a single massive ship filled the space over the Northern pole of Vahalla. It was a true giant of a ship, by far the largest ship ever constructed by either the Tau'ri or if the records where correct any other race. It was massive in scale with a long narrow front shaped like wedge before it exploded outwards and backwards until it reached the engines at the end. The Prometheus was indeed a sight to behold but it's size was also a front, only a small faction of the ship was actually a normal ship the rest was giant cargo hold capable of holding an entire fleet of warships.

"When do we dock?" inquired Joker as he turned his head to look at EDI, EDI was the onboard AI computer system which ran the ship along with him. The Tau'ri had learned from the mistake of the Colonials and from the almost countless fiction stories about mistreated AI rising up to destroy humanity. Under Tau'ri law, AI like EDI where Tau'ri citizens and had all the same rights as anyone within Tau'ri space. EDI like other AI held rank in the Tau'ri military, they could vote in elections and could be charged with crimes if they did break any laws. They even got paid the same as humans of similar rank. EDI like all AI had a tour of duty length within the military and once that was up they had the option to either reenlist or using a mixture of Asgard and Cylon technology to download their personality and memories into a clone body and living out their lives as a breathing human.

"They have finished loading up the Archimedes class science vessels, they are about to start loading the Hadrian class transports with the supergate parts next." reported EDI as she sat there in her holographic body. In truth the whole ship was her body, but most people interacted better with AI through holograms. "After that comes the Missouri class battleships and Yorktown class carriers, then…."

"EDI I don't need the list only a time line." said Joker

"Two and a half days." answered EDI "They aren't in a rush and we are going to be used as recon ships when we arrive, so we will be last to get put into the cargo hold."

"Last on, first off." said Joker as he leaned back and pulled his hat over his eyes and leaned back a bit. "I am half tempted to take a nap."

"We may not have a Commander at the moment, but it is still against regulations to take a nap while on duty." Countered EDI as Joker waved a hand at her.

"I know, I said I was half tempted to not that I would." Said Joker "Who do you think will get as Skipper anyhow?"

"Since our main goal will be recon and support of ground forces, the safe bet is a marine of some kind." admitted EDI

"Wonderful a Jarhead." said Joker, as a Navy man he was found of the joke about Marines. "Did I ever tell you what Marine stands for?"

"My Ass Rides In Navy Equipment." said EDI stressing the first letter of each word "Marine."

"I guess I did tell you that one." stated Joker with a resigned sigh as he looked out the window, to either side where more Normandy class frigates all of them waiting to dock all of them had both science and marine/special forces teams onboard about half of them had more military teams while the other half had more science teams. "We will just have to wait to see who we get."

"We may have wait a while once the Normandy is docked with the Prometheus only skeleton crews will remain onboard each of the ships until we near the Torch Galaxy, then the crews will arrive by Stargate from our galaxy." stated EDI as Joker nodded his head.

"Well I am not going anywhere." stated Joker, he was staying onboard. It really didn't matter to him and the military was paying everyone who stayed onboard a bonus and beside basic upkeep he like everyone else would have very light duty for the year that they would be traveling between galaxies.

 **Night had fallen over the capital of the Tau'ri as a more private get together was happening inside the Presidential estate.** In this private get together was only for Jack's friends and family, there was no speeches made by politicians and military leaders talking about his bravery. Instead there was laughs as all of them remembered the good times they had with their fallen friend. In the distance they could see the Capital building where even now crowds of people paid their final respects to Jack.

"I don't remember that, you and Jack played Golf through the Stargate?" inquired Sam with a laugh.

"You wouldn't." confirmed Teal'c "I must admit, you wouldn't have remembered O'Neill and I where stuck in a time loop and Daniel said we could get away with anything so a few times we did."

"I will miss him." added Daniel as everyone lowered their heads a bit.

"So when do you head out on this mission to the Torch galaxy?" inquired Mitchell as he took a pull on his beer. Everyone above age was drinking and their was finger food for everyone.

"I was supposed to take a tour of the ship before it launch in a couple of days however that was pushed back because of this." Stated Daniel "I will head to it through the gate so I have about a year before I assume official command of the fleet. I am concerned about if anything arises military wise, I do not know much about ship to ship combat."

"Well Admiral Hackett is highly experience and he will handle things on that front." confirmed Carter "Your job is to handle any Alien races we meet in that galaxy and you are the best man for that."

"Still I wonder if it would be better for a younger person." Admitted Daniel

"Well you know 60 is the new 30." Added a new voice as Daniel turned to see General Sheppard and his wife Teyla moving toward the group.

"I am 71." Countered Daniel

"So your basically the new 35." Corrected John as Daniel and the others laughed a bit. It wasn't that far off, with the new medical technology the life span of someone in their 20's today was expected to be around a 150 years while newborns could easily see 200.

"No." said Daniel with a sad laugh, all the new technology from the gate was improving the lives of everyone within Tau'ri space but the benefits had come to late to due for the men and woman gathered around them, even John was in his sixties, Carter was nearing 70 and Jack had died at 84. With the new technology they would likely see a 100 but not 150 like the younger generation who where on the far side of the room in a small group talking to themselves.

"So is your son looking forward to taking part in this expedition?" inquired Daniel as he changed the subject back to the mission before them.

"Yes, however…I think he believes he got his new promotion because of who he is." Admitted John as he looked at his adopted son, he stood beside his sister who had Teyla's looks but his darker hair color. Torren, looked a lot like his mother but had the darker hair of his biological father, a few times people had told both of them they look like each other, that had always upset Torren. "Torren is always concerned about that."

"So is Sam." admitted Jack O'Neill Jr. As the Asgard clone he caused multiple flashbacks for the members of SG-1 because he looked just like what Jack did when they first opened the gate way back in 1997 almost 40 years earlier. "She is worried that she gets extra benefits because of who where grandfather was and the connections she has. I tried not to pull any strings for her or any of the other kids but still."

"Still, you never know what someone does behind your back." added John as he looked toward Torren. "I think that is part of the reason the two of them want to due this mission, to step out of the shadow we cast on them."

"Possible, some young Jaffa warriors do take on risky missions to get their own honor and glory." Admitted Teal'c as the parents shared concerned looks, they didn't want to see their children in a risky situation but this mission was that.

"If I may do you know where Torren and Sam will be going?" inquired John as he looked at President Carter.

"Officially I don't know, I am not suppose to look into assignments on a personal level." stated Carter

"Still…" added Jack

"Unofficially the two of them will learn tomorrow that they are assigned to the TAV-Normandy." said Carter "Torren will be in command and leading a recon team based on the ship. Sam will be the main medical and second science officer."

"Let's hope they don't get in too much trouble." added Teyla

"They are our children, of course they will." confirmed Jack as he looked at his daughter.

"I'll keep an eye on them." reassured Daniel to everyone. "Let's hope it is an easy mission."

Carter didn't want to admit it to everyone else, but she had her worries. Something was off about the Torch Galaxy. The ancient records from Destiny said that they had placed stargates in that galaxy like they had on every other galaxy along the flight path of Destiny and the gate ships. They had made contact with the gate networks in the galaxies before Torch and the ones after it as well, but not a single gate addresses they tried in Torch galaxy connection. Something was off about that galaxy, but it was the best place to build the supergate to finish the Destiny mission, so it had to be that galaxy.

"Let's hope." confirmed Carter.

 **Well I hope you enjoyed the start of the third part of my contact series. This is kind of a refresher of what happened in the past stories as well as saying goodbye to Jack/passing the torch to a new generation. Now until next time please keep reading, thanks Wilkins75.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 Launch**

Major Torren Sheppard adjusted his cap which was a part of his dark navy-blue dress uniform, he hated the damn thing but he had to wear it now. He moved down a long hallway which was illumined by bright lights along either side of the perfectly clean hallway, he could still smell the fresh paint and the oils used to clean the floor. Navy and Marine personal as well as a handful of Air Force and Army moved up and down the hallway. Most wore the duty uniforms which was simple ODU (Operational Dress uniforms) in assorted colors which marked the branch of the military they where from. A handful of civilians also filled the hallways, some driving carts full of supplies while others moved down the hallway with their heads down eyes locked on a data pad. No one paid him any real mind, he was just another young officer onboard this massive ship preparing to leave for another galaxy.

He paused for a moment checking his own data pad before putting it away, he walked another five minutes until he came to a window set in along the wall. He paused beside it as he looked out at the massive cargo hold within the Prometheus. An entire Tau'ri war fleet sat within the hold, he saw battleships and carriers as well as support ships ranging from the Galahad class destroyers to large Hadrian class transports all sitting in dock. His eyes scanned the fleet until he found the ship he was looking for. With luck it was nearby, the ship had smooth graceful lines with four large engines located in pods along the wings. It looked fast even standing still, with it's mostly black paint with highlights of silver along the top and by the engines.

"TAV Normandy." read Torren as he looked at the name of the ship, his ship painted along the hull of the Frigate. He moved down the hallway some more until he reached a sealed door labeled N7, he pressed the button on the side of the door. With a small hiss the airlock opened to show a long hallway which linked the Normandy to the maze of corridors which ran throughout the Prometheus. The long docking arm was nothing out of the ordinary, the only thing that stood out was the name of the ship "Normandy" was displayed on a wall mounted hologram. If another ship was docked the name would have been different. He paused for a moment by the airlock before depressing a button on the side of the wall. With a rush the doors opened to show another inner airlock. After repeating the process again he stepped inside "his" ship.

He found himself on the main deck of the ship, just to his right was the cockpit where four people could sit however generally only one person with the help of the onboard AI actually piloted the ship. The ship had a long narrow command deck with multiple stations set in along the sides of a raised walkway for different crew members monitored the ship and the surrounding area. In the center of the back was the commanders station which had a holographic command display.

"Welcome onboard Major Sheppard." said a man in Navy ODU, it was mostly a dark blue almost black. It had a somewhat leather look thanks to new light body armor built into the fabric. The man in the uniform had deep brown eyes and had well-trimmed brown beard which matched the color of his hair. He wouldn't have been allowed to have that beard in the old military structure of the United States but as long as it was well groomed it was allowed in the Tau'ri military. Same went for hair, his friend Ashley Williams had longer then normal hair which she pulled back before putting on her helmet.

"You must be Flight Lieutenant Moreau." said Sheppard as he nodded his head.

"Please, Sir called me Joker." stated Joker "Everyone has called me that since flight school."

"No, problem I have no problem with nicknames on a ship of this size." said Sheppard "We need to work together and as long as chain of command is kept I have no problem with nicknames and calling people by their first names. Do you understand me, Joker."

"I understand, Major Sheppard." confirmed Joker with a grin.

"And just to let you know if you call me Sheppard, I will not chase you off the ship or anything. I am not a that hard of a man." added Sheppard

"I understand, Sheppard." confirmed Joker before laughing a bit. "Not that I could run, with my medical issues I couldn't outrun a middle school kid yet alone a Special Forces Marine."

Sheppard laughed at the little joke before he turned to look at the woman, in a similar uniform to Joker. Judging from the slight unnatural glow coming from the woman, it was clear that she was a hologram which meant it had to be the ships onboard AI. Most of the time only larger ships such as Battleships and Carriers had AI but since the Normandy's mission was recon it had the advanced AI.

"You must be EDI." said Sheppard as he offered his hand. EDI extended and took it, she really couldn't touch him and he couldn't touch her either but it was gesture which counted. EDI was a member of the crew just like anyone else on the ship, if the ship went down and if her memory core wasn't saved her name would appear on the KIA list along with the human crew.

"Yes, Sheppard." confirmed EDI with a smile. "Everything related to the ship is intact, all the supplies have been loaded including the special equipment requested by Dr. O'Neill for her medical lab. We expected her to be with you."

"Well, she is taking some extra time because of her grandfather's death." explained Sheppard as EDI nodded her holographic head, the red hair falling into her eyes as it would had if it was real hair.

"I understand." confirmed EDI "If that is the case would you like a tour of the ship?"

"Considering I will be commanding her, I better." confirmed Sheppard

 **Two hours later Torren Sheppard sat behind his desk in the captain cabin of the Normandy.** It wasn't much of a space but considering the only other two private cabins on the ship belonged to the second officer and the head Doctor it was special. It was located on the top most level of the ship and was only a short run down a flight of stairs to the command level and the bridge. The room itself was slit between a raised working area with a desk and computer and a lowered level where a bed was located along the far wall along with a small couch located against where the desk was. Two metal containers containing his personal items sat on the deck waiting to be put away.

Before he could do that, the first thing he had to do was look over the data pad containing all the information about the ship. It was well suited for its mission, fast with a thin targeting profile would make it hard to be targeted by capital ships. Its armor was good and so where it's shields. With 12 anti-air rail guns, multiple missile tubes capable of firing missiles and drones and three Asgard beam weapons it packed a punch for its size. It didn't have any of the ancient beam weapons capable of destroying a Wraith hive ship in a single shot but those where only found on capital ships and defense stations. One of the main strength of the Normandy Class ship was that like the Odyssey it had a perfect cloak, meaning that even while cloaked the ship still had shields unlike the older Akula class ships which had to sacrifice shields for cloaking. The system wasn't prefect, they could only remain cloaked with shields for two hours before it became a power drain on the system, which was one of the reasons why the larger ships in the navy hadn't been outfitted with the new cloaking system.

The sensors where top of the line for a ship of its size and its communication system was good too. Since the ship's key role was scouting and recon it carried a squad of recon marines and a research team. To support them, an Owl sat in the small hanger/cargo bay as well as a single six wheeled Alligator armored personal carrier. The armory was full of new mark V combat power armor and the new rail gun series of personal weapons along with a good amount of the older battle proven firearms.

Torren let out a tired sigh as he placed his work down and looked around the room, mentally planning out where he would put his personal items. He stood up and got to work dealing with that before he got some rest. Some of the stuff was easy to place, cloths in the closet and dresser. A pistol and a knife in the night stand. Other things where a little harder to place, his model of Ancient City of Atlantis. He eventually placed it beside the TV which was built into the side of the wall along with a few old fashion hardbound books. Finally, with everything done he moved toward the couch grabbing a drink from the built in mini fridge and after kicking off his shoes he put his feet up on the small coffee table.

"Play media." He said as the whole far wall shimmered a bit. "Play movie, Blazing Saddles."

Seconds later the entire wall turned into a holographic TV which started to play one of his favorites movies. He needed to relax, and he planned to do so by watching a movie before getting some sleep.

 **The day had finally come for Dr. Rush as he moved around the main science lab within the heart of the Prometheus.** As a mainly science vessel, the lab was the best ship born lab in the Tau'ri fleet. Even with that it wasn't up to Dr. Rush's standards, but nothing ever was.

"No…no…no, this is the main science bay the medical equipment goes to Dr. Kenson and the medical research area not here." ordered Rush to a Navy Sergeant leading a squad of man carrying multiple large crates. "It is five level down."

The Navy Sargent glared at Rush before checking his data pad.

"Sir, it say the supplies goes here." countered the Sargent with scorn in his voice.

"And I said it doesn't go here." countered Rush as if his word was enough to end the conversion.

"It goes here, the medical bay will be more used more while we are in translate." stated a woman's voice. "More marines and sailors will get into fights then there will be alien technology to study. They need the space more than you do."

"That isn't your call Dr. Miranda, so put that stuff where it belongs." Countered Rush as he looked at the brilliant young woman, who was one of the top researcher in the fields of computers and technology, Dr. Miranda Lawson. Like most of the crew she wore military style BDU only instead of the dark navy coloring she wore a black and white version. Since she was a civilian she was allowed to get away with it, for himself Rush wore slacks and a t-shirt. Her long jet-black hair and skin tone along with her body made her look like she belonged on swimsuit model then heading to another galaxy. She smirked at him which only caused Rush's anger to boil a bit.

"I didn't make the call." countered Miranda

"I did." Added a new voice as a man entered the science bay "And if you two kids can't get along I will separate you two."

"Maybe that would be for the best, Dr. McKay." state Dr. Rush as he glared at the man who was his superior for this mission.

"I agree." Added Miranda

"Well then maybe as punishment, I should stick you two together more and take bets to see who makes it out alive." said McKay as both Rush and Miranda glared at each other. "Now Sargent, please carry on and store the supplies in the storage room."

"Thank you, sir." confirmed the navy man as he went to store the supplies in the cargo bay which was designed to store newly discovered technology that the Tau'ri came across in the Torch Galaxy. Without saying a word Dr. Rush turned and stormed out of the room leaving McKay with the much younger woman.

"Sir, maybe it would be better if we left him behind." offered Miranda "It may be for the best, he clearly doesn't accept that you are over him in the chain of command."

"Just like you don't like being under him." countered McKay as Miranda winced a bit. "However there is no way to leave him behind without killing him. I am not even sure death would stop him."

"We should stop death." Said Miranda as McKay glared at her. "I understand the law sir, we don't want to fall into the same trap that the Asgard fell into. We don't want the human race to die out because we can't reproduce but we can avoid that mistake. General O'Neill wouldn't be gone if that was the case."

"In a way he isn't he has a clone son, thanks to the Asgard but that isn't the point. It is illegal to download a mind into a clone body." said McKay. It was mostly true, it was legal and now common to have clone organs and limbs but aside from the case of Jack O'Neill Jr. it was illegal to download one's mind into a new younger body. "Be grateful, you are what early 30's at the oldest you will likely see another 120 years or more, if you play your cards right you may see 200. I am almost 70, I have maybe 30 maybe 40 years thanks to medical technology."

Miranda lowered her head a bit in shame. With the new medical technology it was more then likely that in a few years a 60 year old man or woman would look like a 30 year old and so on down the line, a 40 year old would look in their 20s. It was just the shape the world was taking, it was as if the modern medical technology slowed down ageing.

"Be grateful Miranda, don't be too greedy." advised McKay to the much younger woman.

"Thanks for the advice sir." said Miranda

 **Multiple decks away from the science section sat one of the sensor and information suits onboard the Prometheus.** From here the crew of the Prometheus could monitor the powerful sensors built into the ship as well as a wide range of probes that could be launched from the ship.

"Still nothing to report from the probes we sent out to Torch Galaxy." stated the head shift operator to one of the intelligence officer on the ship, Captain Kasumi Goto. Kasumi was a rare bird on the ship, she was both an intelligence officer and there wasn't many of them onboard and she was an Army officer on a ship full sailors, marines and air force pilots. There was of course more army officer and personal onboard then her but there wasn't a need for columns of tanks and infantry to take planets when the mission didn't call for them. There where special forces teams and Adder attack helicopters pilots onboard but considering the size the mission there were more civilians onboard then members of the Tau'ri army.

"I see." said Kasumi as she looked at the sensor operator. "How many systems have we mapped?"

"Detailed scans of twenty-two." answered the operator as Kasumi raised an eyebrow at the low number. "The probes have been focused on getting every little bit of information about the black holes, long scanned we have almost a hundred but the long-range scans aren't as detailed as a close up scan."

"How far off is it?" inquired Kasumi

"Well is we did a long-range scan of Earth at some of the distance we scanned some of the systems those massive space port stations we have over Earth, Mars and Venus would show up as small moons." Explained the operator "If I may add Ma'am we are scanning star system from a very distant galaxy."

"Alright, I will send a request in to send those probes to take closer looks at the star systems." explained Kasumi "For all we know there is a whole civilization in the star systems we "mapped."

"I must admit Ma'am I don't think so, we haven't detected any ships in hyperspace or any broadcasts on any long-range communication system." countered the operator "No hyperspace travel, no FTL travel that we can detect. We are near black holes, most ships avoid those death traps so they aren't likely to travel near them."

"That we can detect." said Kasumi "Alright return to your station."

 **Down on the planet Dr. Samantha O'Neill hugged her mother Dr. Cassandra Frasier O'Neill.**

"Mom, I'll be fine." Reassured Sam as her father, little sister and brother stood back a bit watching the two of them. "Most of the time I will just be board out of mind onboard the Normandy."

"Then why don't you just stay here?" inquired her younger brother "A lot of the other people aren't joining with the fleet until they get closer to this galaxy they are going too. You could do the same."

"Not really." Corrected Colonel O'Neill "See because Sam is assigned to the Normandy and the Normandy is a recon ship the crew all has to be onboard during the trip. They may be needed for recon."

"When did that change?" inquired her brother, Daniel

"A few days ago." Answered Sam as she moved to hug her little brother, before hugging her sister. "Don't worry, the whole mission is only scheduled to last a year and a half."

"If you discover some new life can you name it after me?" inquired her little sister.

"It is more of a when, we are going to another unexplored galaxy I am sure we come across new life forms." said Sam with a smile.

"Owl 145 to Prometheus will take off in five minutes." came a voice over the load speakers in the space port she and her family where standing in.

"Well, that is my flight." Confirmed Sam with a sigh as she hugged her mother one more time and her younger siblings before her dad hugged her.

"Good luck and stay safe." Said Jack as he hugged his daughter tight before letting her go. They watched her go and then watched from the window as she ran out onto the tarmac and the waiting Owl transport. Moments after she got onboard the back ramp closed and she was airborne.

For young Sam O'Neill a mix of joy and fear as the Owl transport lifted off the ground and headed up toward the Prometheus and her new post as head medical officer onboard the Normandy. The flight time was extremely short and within 10 minutes she felt the Owl touch down on the deck. Moments after that the Owl engines died, the back ramp lowered allowing Sam and a dozen other new arrivals stepped off the Owl and into the hanger.

The massive hanger was one of five onboard the Prometheus was filled with multiple different spacecrafts. In this hanger a two whole wings of Eagle fighters over 40 aircraft along with another 20 aircraft wing of Taita fighter bombers sat in the hanger. Along with them where countless number of Owl transports, the Owl was the work horse of the Tau'ri forces, they served as transports, recon and search and rescue, so there was a lot of them onboard the ship. There where also larger Condor Bombers and Pelican transports near the back of the massive hanger. She could even spot a Raven recon bird sitting way in the back. The aircraft in this hanger where for the most part locked and strapped down as they waited for their pilots who would arrive through the gate in just under a year. There was a group of alert fighters who would be ready to defend the ship if something happened while in hyperspace but the bulk of the air power the Prometheus would remain in storage. In truth there where more aircraft then in the Prometheus itself sealed inside the larger warships stored inside the massive cargo hold.

"Dr. O'Neill?" inquired a voice as she turned and looked at a short man in a navy uniform.

"Yes." confirmed Sam

"Alright." Said the man as he held out a computer pad. She knew the drill, she placed her hand on the pad, within seconds the pad read her DNA, finger pints and the camera built in locked onto her eye and scanned her retina. The entire process took only a few seconds before the pad beeped, confirming who she was. "Welcome onboard, the Normandy is in spot N7 would you like a guild?"

"No, I'll find my way." answered Sam as she held up her own data pad. "If I get lost I'll pull up a map."

"Very well, your luggage should have already been sent to your ship we depart in three hours." answered the navy man before he turned and walked away.

 **For Colonial Viper Pilot Kara Thrace call sign Starbuck it was strange being back in the colonies after so long training new viper pilots for the Tau'ri in the Pegasus galaxy.** As part of some grand plan that the Tau'ri had put into effect 20 colonial pilots would train some of less advanced civilians on how to fly, maintain and fight with a stripped-down Viper space fighter. Kara was one of those pilots and she had chosen to go to the Pegasus galaxy to train because simply the Tau'ri and her own government would pay her more for going there then staying in this galaxy. Now she was back and with more money than she had in her entire life and she wasn't happy.

Over the short amount of time she had been gone so much had changed and not in her view for the better. More and more the colonies looked more like the Tau'ri worlds she had been on, mostly New Sera and New Athos. New Sera was where she trained new pilots on how to use the viper, being less advanced then any Tau'ri warbird it was prefect for civilizations who sometimes had just discovered how to make firearms. The planet had been settled by people from a world called Sera which had become a footnote to the Tau'ri because the battle that trapped multiple Wraith fleets on the planet had taken place on the same day as the nuclear strike on Valhalla. The people of Sera had settled on their new home and had officially joined the Tau'ri alliance while she was there. There was a somewhat similar story for the Athosian people only they had a much stronger link the Tau'ri, one of their leaders happened to be the Wife of the military commander of the whole galaxy, General Sheppard. It didn't hurt that Atlantis which served as the Tau'ri capital in Pegasus was on New Athos.

She had gotten used to Tau'ri there, but she hadn't expected so much of the Tau'ri culture to have spread into the Colonies so fast. The younger generation including those who had fought against the Tau'ri where now embracing them, she heard Tau'ri music on the wireless which some now called Radio.

"I am one to complain." stated Kara to herself, she was herself sitting in an Irish pub in Caprica city, with a wallet full of Tau'ri money, even her civilian cloths where of Tau'ri design.

"You look good." said a voice from behind her.

"Oh, frak you Lee." said Kara as her friend, lover or handler depending on each of their mood at the time.

"Really classy Starbuck." said Lee as he sat down across from her at the booth. "So why don't we get all the official stuff out of the way?"

"Works." said Kara "You do know that the Tau'ri know that I report back everything I see and hear. They know I am a spy, so they control what I see and hear."

"I know and the fact that is what so scary to the high command." confirmed Lee "They let you see all this stuff knowing that we will find out, which tells us they have a lot more that they are keeping hidden."

"Not that it really matters, I have seen the state of the Colonial Navy it is a fraken joke." stated Kara "We are nothing more than a coast guard now."

"We are." Confirmed Lee with a sigh. "No one in high command, not even my father wants to admit that we are on the fast track to being Tau'ri members. We use their money, their culture is merging with ours, frak we have more people signing up to join the Tau'ri military then we do signing up for the Colonial armed forces. That isn't even taking into account the number of marriages between Tau'ri and Colonial citizens, that is increasing too."

"Frak." cursed Kara with a shake of her head before looking out a nearby window, across the road was a hotel. Everything looked normal with the colonial flag along with the flag of Caprica and Caprica City. Those three flags would have been there before contact with the Tau'ri but a 4th flag was there, a blue flag with a silver upside down V set in what she learned later to be a stargate. "How long do we have until we are all under the blue and silver flag?"

"Could be a few years or a couple of decades but within our lifetime for sure." stated Lee

"Part of me will want to shoot myself when that day comes." added Kara "But most people will likely be celebrating when that comes."

"Likely, you say you saw some of their new weapons, anything we need to know about?" inquired Lee

"You likely have seen their new rifles, those rail guns." stated Kara with a shake of her hold. She had seen those Rail gun rifles that the Tau'ri where now using. They fired at extremely fast rate, so fast that in full auto three rounds could be fired before the first had left the barrel of the gun and that was their rifles. The machine gun version was even faster and deadlier.

"We have." confirmed Lee "We have seen the effects as well, the terrorist on Sagittarian are shitting themselves because a single rifleman can knock out a vehicle with a three-round burst from that thing. The thing high command keeps wondering about is why haven't the Tau'ri switch to energy-based weapons? From what we have gathered almost every other power has them."

"And so do they." Confirmed Kara as Lee blinked at the news. "The thing they talk about is dealing with a threat that adapt to energy blasts like the Replicators do, whoever they are. They also like how all the new ammo types they have thanks to the technology they stole from us."

"That is a strength of the Tau'ri for sure." stated Lee as Kara blinked. "They aren't afraid to take the best technology from different civilizations and improving on it for their own gain. They took Ancient and Asgard technology and merged it with their own to make those warships. They merged their rail gun technology with our ammo types and they have a much deadlier combination."

"I guess." confirmed Kara as she remembered conversions she had with the Tau'ri she dealt with in the Pegasus galaxy. "The only thing I can think of which is of some interest is that the Tau'ri have a new power armor. I haven't seen it but I have heard some of them talking about it."

"Great." Said Lee as he leaned back, during the war every Tau'ri soldier had power armor which gave them enhanced strength, speed and endurance. On top of that, the suit they wore gave them better protection then their colonial counterparts and their suit had onboard computers with life sign detectors. It made each solider of the Tau'ri more deadly than any Cylon Centurion ever seen by the Colonials. "Let me guess, it has shields now?"

"No, from what I have gathered it doesn't." countered Starbuck as Lee blinked, every Tau'ri ship above the size of bombers had shields, even a large ground mec and their heavy tank had shields which stopped everything the Colonials threw at them. "From what can gather, they are having trouble with power consumption of shields draining the overall power of the armor and that is on top a shield messes with bullets and rail guns."

"But their ships have shields and rail guns, why would that be a problem." Inquired Lee as Starbuck shrugged.

"Don't fraken know, they didn't tell me everything." stated Starbuck "They knew who I was, most of the stuff I did learn came from off the hand comments at poker games I played at."

"So you did learn to play poker." laughed Lee

"I sure fraken did, that is how I got more money now then I would have earned from just my salary." stated Kara "And that is how I got my biggest scopes of information. Like the new power armor, the new shipyards on New Athos which are already building ships for the Tau'ri navy and something called Fisher Program."

"The Fisher Program." said Lee, that was causing so much confusion for the Colonial Intelligence because they had no idea if it was a new ship class, weapon system or something worse. They simply had no idea and that was most concerning. "Do you have anything else besides a name?"

"No." confirmed Starbuck "I have no idea and if your done pumping in for information that I already gave you in a report can we get something to eat?"

"No problem." Confirmed Lee as he raised his hand toward a waiting waiter who rushed over to take their orders. "Not the best start to the evening is it?"

"No, but lets see where this goes." added Starbuck as she turned her mind away from the Tau'ri for a little while at least.

 **Already onboard the Normandy Lieutenant Ashley Williams stood in the armory of the Normandy, it was located just off from the Hanger.** It was from here that both special forces teams which would call this ship home would be equipped and readied for missions. There were two teams which would be launched from the Normandy, a smaller four-person recon team and a much larger science team was supposed to take and hold a site for study.

She moved toward one of the large floor to ceiling safes and after pressing her hand to a scanner, the safe opened to show row after row of firearms. It was wide range of firearms ranging from old fashion bullet firing kind, to the energy weapons like Zats and most of all the new railgun rifles. She moved toward the nearest of the new rifles picking up the new standard rifle for the Tau'ri military the SIR (Standard Infantry Railgun) 17 often called the SIR 17. The SIR 17 was a rail gun replacing the older normal firearms which had served the Tau'ri well. Those older guns where still in the armory and Ashley could see them but when she went out on recon she would carry this new gun.

She studied the weapon for a moment, it had similar outline to the older Kriss Vector 5 carbine used in by tank crews and close quarter combat during the war. With a large box shape located in front of the trigger, however in this case it held the magazine that contained the sold rounds that the railgun could fire at ungodly speed. On full auto the gun in her hand could fire three rounds before the first one left the barrel. Under the reinforced barrel was a built-in mount for a wide range of attachments such as grenade launchers, none deadly weapons and other attachments. There was a built-in camera which could link to the power armor and flashlight, laser designator and the like. The gun was painted black but like her new armor it was a false front. With a push of a button the active camouflage would active on the rifle as paint color would change to match the environment or any preprogramed camouflage patterns.

Ash placed the rifle away and looked at the rail gun pistol, it didn't look much different then the normal standard 1911 pistol only with a slightly longer barrel. She placed the side arm away and looked at the other weapons in the armory, ranging from a shotguns to rocket launchers. Finally, she looked at the wide range of grenades and bullet kinds which were at their disposal. There where also old fashion combat knifes and other needed tools for the field.

They had adopted technology devolved by the Colonials to fire high explosives rounds to destroy Cylons on the battlefields of the 1st Cylon war over 40 years ago. Aside from the standard rounds which by themselves could go through an engine block of a truck at 100 yards, they had five additional deadly rounds with an additional 2 none deadly rounds for a grand total of 9 kinds. The high explosive round which blew up on impact with a force equal to a small hand grenade. The electrical rounds which fired computers, the armored precising rounds which almost doubled the punching power, fire rounds which caused a small amount of Dragon Fire Napalm to explode over the target. Along with fire was ice which could freeze living targets and machines. Freezing the gears of machines stopped them without causing much damage.

The two none deadly rounds which could be fired by the guns, where the stun rounds which could be used outside of training to control riots. The stun rounds had become a favorite among police across Tau'ri space and had saved lives multiple times. The other kind was the gas round, the round exploded on impact and released either a small amount of pepper spray or a smell so powerful it forced most humans back. Those rounds had become favorites to control riots.

Finally, after making sure all the ammo was there she moved onto the armor. While the older Tau'ri power armor was still common among the average foot soldier in the military. Since they where a recon team they had the more advanced version. Unlike the older version which was basically a wet suit made out of bullet resistance material in which body armor and power armor was attached like layers of a cake. The newer version still had a bullet resistance material wet suit; however the suit was extremely loose with an auto tighten system to make it skin tight. The next step was attaching the body armor, however instead of straps and locks the armor was magnetically sealed onto the suit decreasing the time needed to put on the armor. Also, the power suit which increased the physical strength and speed of the wear was built into the armor eliminating the need to put on a separate set of armor. In the end was a much smoother sleeker looking suit which could be customized on the fly based on the situation on the ground.

"Checking up on my work?" came a voice from behind her as she turned to see a muscular man with part of a tattoo a visible coming up from his shirt color.

"Sargent Vega?" inquired Ashley

"Yes, Lieutenant Williams I am Sargent James Vega. On top of being on your team I will be maintaining the armory for you and everyone else." Introduced James "Have you seen the other toys we have back there?"

'You mean the Alligator and the Owl, yes I have." Confirmed Ashley "Any word on the other members of our teams?"

"Well you didn't hear it from me but scuttlebutt is they had to pull one of our teammates, Jack Taylor out from a cell on Valhalla after a bar fight." Stated James

"Great, a drunk fighter just the man we need." sighed Ashley

"Ah, screw you, Ma'am." said another voice as Ash turned to see a thin woman, with a short buzz cut on the top of her head and bare skin on the side. She had an ungodly number of tattoos covering what looked to be every inch of her visible body beside her face. "Specialist Jack Taylor reporting for duty."

Ashley for a moment was taken back, she had expected something totally different then what was before her.

"Well good to see you up." said Ashley not sure what else to say.

"Well the other guy isn't getting up any time soon." added Jack with a grin. "Teach him to grab my ass."

"Ok." Said Ash not wanting any more details.

"Where are the other members of our team, we need to "bond" to become a better fighting team." Inquired Jack

"From my understanding, some army officer named Jacob Taylor is heading the science teams." Answered Vega

"No relation to me." added Jack as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Along with an old sergeant named Massani." stated Vega "I believe they aren't onboard at the moment."

"Oh well, if there is nothing to do I have a hangover so I am going to grab some aspirins and get some sleep." added Jack as she turned and left the armory.

"Well, if I know Torren we can expect to do some group training in the simulators before we get to the Torch galaxy." stated Ashely more to herself then to Vega who was standing beside her.

"I have no problem with that." Confirmed Vega

 **Admiral Steven Hackett, the former Canadian Navy man now found himself in command of the largest ship in the history of the Tau'ri.** It even surpassed every ship ever known ship made by any race in three galaxies, with the only exception being an Ancient city ship and an assembled super gate. The Prometheus was the single largest ship in the fleet and within it's massive cargo hold was an entire fleet of warships and science vessels. Along with the fleet where dissembled defense platforms and most importantly all the parts needed for a Super gate.

"Are we ready?" inquired Hackett as he stood on the bridge of the Prometheus

"Everything is green sir." confirmed an operator at one of the multiple stations which lined a large number of bays full of man and women manning computers. No less the 10 AI moved around the bridge, each one of them overseeing different parts of the ships ranging from navigation to weapons and cargo to sensors.

"ZPMS are in place and everything is ready." confirmed an AI charged with overseeing the connection between the ZPMs and the hyperdrive.

"Good." Said a voice behind Hackett as he turned to see an older man with glasses over his eyes. His brown hair had more silver in it then had it when he was a member of SG1.

"Dr. Jackson." said Hackett as he snapped off a salute to the commander of the entire mission, while Hackett's job was to defend the fleet and handle any military issue which arose it was Dr. Jackson's job to handle any first contact and diplomatic issues that came up. "The Prometheus is ready and we are only awaiting a clearance to leave from Valhalla command."

"Sir, we just got it." stated an officer in the communication section of the bridge.

"Well then let's head out." said Dr. Jackson as he moved to stand beside Hackett on the bridge.

"Sir, it isn't too late to change your mind." whispered Hackett as Daniel shook his head, both of them knew that Daniel originally wasn't going to be on the Prometheus when it launched but instead would have joined it when the bulk of the crew arrived through the stargate. He had changed his mind after Jack's funeral and when he laid to rest beside his late son.

"No, I am good but thanks anyhow." confirmed Daniel in a whisper as well.

"Very well." said Hackett as he moved forward. "Helm, set coarse full sub light until we clear Valhalla system and then take us to hyperspace."

"Yes, sir." Confirmed helm as the monster of a ship began to move away from Valhalla. While the ship could have entered hyperspace while in orbit of Valhalla or any other world it was standing orders not to enter of leave hyperspace in a star system. There was just too much of a risk of slamming into something and if the ship was small enough it could actually destroy the ship. For the larger ships slamming into something could lower overall shield strength and they may need those shields at full strength.

With it's powerful engines the Prometheus cleared Valhalla system within a couple of minutes the over a kilometer and a half long battleships escorting her out looking tinny in comparison to the massive Prometheus. The two battleships escorting her turned away as the ship neared the launching point and as they did in a salute both ships launched flares out front of the newest ship in the fleet. The flares exploded like fireworks and illumined the ship in multiple colored light, it was pointless for the Prometheus but it provided good images for the media people following the ship out on their own ship.

"Here we go, cut power to sub light and active the hyper drive take us to out." ordered Hackett

"Aye, aye sir." confirmed an officer as a hyperspace window opened up in front of the massive ship. With a burst of speed, the ship entered hyperspace on it's year long journey to the Torch Galaxy.

 **It was a boring 11 months for the crew of the Prometheus, everything was going as plan and therefor there was next to nothing to do.** The ships hyperdrive carried them across the void between galaxies at the speed they believed they would, they had regular updates from Tau'ri high command which included news, movies/tv and sporting events. That left very little to do beside train, maintain the ships and make sure everything was ready for when the bulk of the crew arrived through the gate.

Sitting in his office with a computer pad in hand reading up on the secure updates from events happening back home, Admiral Steven Hackett couldn't help but grin a bit to himself. The war which had threatened to break out for years on the Lanagara border had finally happened but it wasn't between the Tau'ri or any other power. The Lucian alliance groups and the Free Jaffa groups had begun to fight internal conflects and another civil war was breaking out.

"Countless generations of rivalry from their time as slaves to the Goa'uld makes it difficult for them to unify together." read Hackett out load the opinion of some intelligence officer back on Earth. On some levels he agreed, it was hard for Earth to come together. In truth he didn't think they would have come together as fast without the war with the colonials binding them together against a common enemy. Earth was unified for the most part, there was two nations who still weren't part of the Tau'ri. North Korea which was even now still yelling about how they should have the stargate and Vatican City who really didn't count because they remained separated by choice because of the Pope being the head of a faith as well.

The reports from the other parts of Tau'ri space where also good, on the Pegasus front New Sera and New Athos where still growing becoming centers of learning and trade in a galaxy too long keep down by Wraith. The Wraith themselves, the ultimate enemy of the Ancients where now nothing more then bandits running from Tau'ri and local forces. There was still sightings of Wraith Cruisers but they where rare with the bulk of the remaining wraith either on the run or stuck on Sera where their ships had crashed thanks to the trap the Tau'ri sprung on them. In time and without a human population to feed on those Wraiths would die out, the idea had been floated to deploy the Ragnarok super weapon to erase the Wraiths on the planet, but some enterprising Wraith had brought some the crashed ships weapons online along with Dart fighters making it too risky for the Ragnarok. So that idea was shot down and the plan of starvation was put into effect. In time the Wraiths would die from lack of food so the Tau'ri only had to monitor the situation and make sure they didn't get off world. The former citizens of Sera didn't seam to mind and had founded New Sera and had quickly began to merge their own culture with the rest of the Pegasus galaxy culture and the Tau'ri culture.

On the Colonial front the situation was normal, terrorist attacks by Sagittarians but even those had begun to die down. The report before him even explained how the Colonies, the former enemies of the Tau'ri were quickly becoming more and more Tau'ri like. There where Colonial citizens in the Tau'ri military who would become Tau'ri citizens after their tour of duty, if intelligence could be believed their where actually more Colonials signing up for the Tau'ri military then signing up for the Colonial military. Production of ZMPs where also going along as planned and everything seamed to be going good back on Earth.

A beeping sound at the door caused him to look up, after a quick glace at the clock he knew who it was suppose to be.

"Enter." ordered Hackett, moments later Major Torren Sheppard walked into his office and snapped to attention. Hackett returned the salute only to jester toward one of the chair in front of his desk. "Sit, Major."

"Thank you, sir." said Sheppard as he sat down across from the much higher admiral.

"I will keep things short Sheppard, we are about 18 hours out from our stopping point outside of the Torch galaxy." started Hackett "While we begin to take on the rest of the crew through the gate. While we are doing that the Normandy and the 11 other ships of her class will begin scouting missions."

"That is why we came sir." stated Sheppard as Hackett fought back a smile, he had worked closely with General Sheppard while he was commander of 8th fleet out in the Pegasus galaxy. The two of them had used the leftovers that high command sent them from the war against the colonials to kick the Wraith in the teeth. He had seen this young man grow up before his eyes and had seen some of the trouble he got into as well.

"Sheppard, this one will be by the book. You may make contact with another civilian and we don't want to start a shooting war out here." ordered Hackett

"I understand sir, we are kind of on our own until the super gate is built when it comes to ships and the like." confirmed Sheppard, as Hackett nodded his head. "Do you have an assignment for my ship?"

"Yes." confirmed Hackett as he pulled out a data pad and handed it over to the younger Sheppard. "System number T-1746, long range scans show between 6 and 7 worlds, the 4th worlds sits in the habitual range. Your mission is to scout the system and then move on the system T-1747 and T-1748. There information is in the pad, however none of their worlds sit in the habitual zone. So focus on T-1746 first but be ready for anything."

"I understand sir." confirmed Sheppard

"Good and remember for a while you will be out on your own. Until we get everyone through the gate from Valhalla we will not be moving and even after that we will be unloading all those ships we brought." explained Hackett

"Better to unload them now then attempt to do it if we run into trouble." added Sheppard.

"Correct and it is your job to be the eyes and ears for our fleet." stated Hackett before smiling. "I know you will do a good job, dismissed."

 **The Prometheus exited hyperspace outside of the Torch galaxy, from the bridge Hackett could see the alien galaxy before him.** The countless tiny points of lights from the distant stars joining together into a image that would take anyone's breath away. As he stood there watching he spotted an Owl transport coming across the view screen, it would seem that the crew where on the ball as they began to scan the haul for any issues that could have happened in hyperspace.

"Sir, we are in position." Reported an officer, Hackett knew that in the current spot they could dial the onboard gate and make a connection with Valhalla all the way back in the Milky Way Galaxy.

"Good, dial the gate to inform command we have arrived and that everything is good." ordered Hackett "At the same time launch the recon ships."

"Yes, sir." confirmed the operator.

Like his much higher ranking superior Major Torren Sheppard stood onboard the bridge of the Normandy's docking clams was released and the ship became free of the Prometheus for the first time since leaving the Milky Way Galaxy.

"Joker, EDI take us out." Ordered Sheppard as the engines of the Normandy came alive as smaller trust engines forced the Normandy down out of the massive open cargo door. As the Normandy cleared the cargo hold they got their first view of the galaxy they had come to visit. It didn't look much different then the galaxy they called home. A beautiful spiral of light, since they where coming in from the bottom or some would say the top they saw the whole circle like shape of the galaxy inside of a side view of a thin disk with a bulging center. It was kind of like seeing Saturn and it's rings from near one of it's poles. The rings where clearly visible compared to head on where the thinner rings blended in with the planet.

"EDI, do you have an FTL lock on our destination?" inquired Sheppard

"Yes Sheppard, total travel time is 15 hours." reported EDI as the Normandy's main engines came to life and the ship pulled away from the Prometheus. The other 11 Normandy class ships where also deploying out preparing to carry out their recon missions. Ahead of his vessel two of them had already gained enough distance away and before his eyes vortex of energy opened up as they disappeared into hyperspace.

"Alright, here we go." Said Torren as a vortex of energy opened up in front of the Normandy and with a burst of speed they shot forward into hyperspace.

 **I was debating for a while if I should have split this chapter up into two smaller ones but I have a feeling most of you want to make official contact with the Citadel Races and then the Reapers so I put it into one longer chapter. A few things, I know some may not be totally happy since I spent a lot of time describing weapons and ships and giving backstory. This is to save some time later on so I hope you understand. Now until next time, please keep reading. Thanks Wilkins75.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3 Contact Part 1  
**

Major Torren Sheppard stood on the bridge of his new vessel the TAV Normandy, he had been officially the commander of the ship for just over a year the entire time the ship had been in storage onboard the Prometheus. This was the first time the ship was truly under his command and he needed to be on the bridge when it carried out it's first mission under his command. A lot of the other of the crew had been there longer then Torren, they knew each other and remembered their first commander. It was up to him to make a good first impression.

"Exiting hyperspace in five…four…three…two…one." Countered down Joker before the Normandy came out of hyperspace and slowed down. At once the light of an alien star came filtering in through the windows. "Welcome to system T-1746."

"Beginning detail scanned." confirmed EDI as her fingers danced across the control panel, that was just for show but it made her look more alive and therefor helped her work better with the crew.

Sheppard looked down at his holographic display as the data came in fast, almost at once the image of a star appeared at the center of the map. Nearest to it was a small rocky world which clearly couldn't support any life outside of maybe some artificial mining operations. The next world was larger but also couldn't support life without artificial means, the 3rd planet was larger still and covered with thick clouds. The temperature reading showed that the average temperature at least at the moment was just over 700 Celsius so not likely a place they would want to visit. The 4th planet in the system was currently behind the systems star meaning it would take a few extra moments for the data to come in. The 5th and 6th planets where gas giants with the 5th being smaller with a blueish purple coloring while the larger 6th world had a reddish orange color.

"Sheppard, I have something." stated EDI as the hologram changed to show more details about what lied behind the sensor shadow caused by the star. The 4th planet not only had an atmosphere that could support life but also had floating wrecks of space ships and other items. The surface was pot marked by blast craters and judging from the sensors a nuclear war of some kind had happened on the planet at some point in its history.

"EDI can you detect any life on that world?" inquired Sheppard

"Not at this distance but look at is." reported EDI as the image changed again, this time it showed an intact spaceship or maybe it was just a space station in the same orbit of the 4th planet. Unlike the wrecks floating over that world it looked well maintained and had running lights on.

"Did we just find our first alien lifeforms in this galaxy?" inquired Joker

"No, I don't think so." reported EDI "I am detecting no life signs onboard that station and it looks to be automated in some way. Judging by the scans I believe it is fuel storage center."

"Like a gas station?" inquired Sheppard

"Yes, Major that would be a logical assumption." confirmed EDI as the Normandy powered around the system bring more and more of the system into sensor range.

"Either way, it confirms that there is intelligent life somewhere nearby." stated Sheppard

"Unless this is that lone gas station in the center of the desert." countered Joker "You know the kind, the one that says nearest gas station is 100 miles down the road or something like that."

Suddenly alarms filled the air as EDI's eyes widened as the last bit of sensor shadow caused by the star was cleared away and the Normandy got a view of the entire system.

"Sheppard, I think we found something." Stated EDI as the holographic image appeared on his display.

"My God, what is that?" inquired Sheppard as he looked at the image. It was a large structure constructed of two fifteen kilometers (9 miles) long arms which curved around a spinning center area that gave off a blue glow.

"No idea, Sheppard." Confirmed EDI "It isn't giving off any heat or radiation which in combination with the sensor shadow caused by the star meant we didn't see it until we came into visual range."

"It kind of looks like a pistol." added Joker as EDI turned her holographic head toward him. "I mean look at it, those curved arms shot off in one direction like the barrel of a gun. If you shrink it down and add a grip and a trigger it could pass for a gun."

"It could, couldn't it." admitted Sheppard before turning toward EDI "What do the scanners say about it?"

"I must admit Major that I am having trouble getting a good scan of the object." admitted EDI "It is putting out too much interference."

"I thought you said it wasn't giving off energy?" inquired Sheppard

"That is not fully correct, the closer we are getting to the object it is putting out energy as if it is sensing us." explained EDI "I recommend we stay back and carry out scans at a safe distance."

"Alright, send a report to the Prometheus about what we found and the rest of the recon ships as well." Ordered Sheppard as the Normandy's flight path took it over the planet as it headed toward the unknown kilometer long object.

"Are we close enough to find any life signs on the planet?" inquired Sheppard

"Hard to say, sir." admitted EDI "The radiation while not at deadly levels is strong enough to throw off sensors and judging from these readings I would say whoever was or is down there had a major nuclear war. I would estimate by the amount of radiation that it would be about four and half times the size of a full scale nuclear exchange between the United States of America and the USSR in the middle of the cold war."

"Damn, that must have been a big war." stated Joker "Nothing is likely left alive down there."

"I am detecting something, a structure on the planet which does not match the local environment…bring up image now." reported EDI as the image of a tower appeared on the holographic display. The spire shot out of the ground and seamed to be surrounded by stone structures even though it was made out of metal. From above they could see plumes of something coming out of the top of the spire. "Radiation levels around the spiral are noticeable lower."

"Could this be an attempt to clean the planet?" inquired Sheppard

"Very possible, if so it is a slow method it will take thousands of years to fully clean the planets air of radiation." Stated EDI "Our terraforming technology could clean the entire planet within days of radiation and restore or change the environment within months. We did it on Aquaria in the colonies turning what was an ice ball world until our nuke turned it into a radioactive wasteland into a world much like Earth."

"Alright, alert the teams we are going to check this spire out." ordered Sheppard "At the same time you will study the that fuel station and then do what scans you safely can do of whatever that massive structure is. Send a request back to the fleet we need a science vessel here to do a more proper study of that thing."

"Aye, Aye." said Joker as Sheppard turned and headed toward the armory to suit up.

 **The reports from the Normandy and the other ships of her class which had reached the Torch galaxy where starting to come in.** So far only the Normandy had found anything of interest, however four of the 12 Normandy class frigates had yet to arrive at their main objects and none of them had gone beyond the first system in their search.

"You wanted to us me Admiral Hackett?" inquired Doctor McKay as he arrived on the bridge with Dr. Miranda and Dr. Rush in tow, the three of them where the head scientist on the mission. Each were the best of the best in their own fields of studies but extremely knowledgeable in multiple fields.

"Yes, the Normandy found some interesting objects including this." Stated Hackett as the image of the gun like station floating in space appeared on the holographic table in the middle of the room.

"Interesting." Said Miranda as she leaned forward and looked at the image. "It seams to be giving off energy but reads cold to our scanners unless we are near it? Very interesting, I would imagine that the power center is in those spinning rings."

"I concur." Stated Rush who also studied the image with some interest.

"I want to send one of you out to study this and the spire they found on a nearby planet." Explained Hackett as he looked at the list of ships still being unloaded, the science vessels where the first loaded and still deep inside the Prometheus. "The Science vessel Einstein will be ready in 10 hours one of you will be onboard, I'll let you decide who goes."

"No offense, but I am friends with the head of the research recon team on the Normandy I request to be sent." asked Miranda as everyone looked at Rush.

"I have no issue with that, I have a lot of work to do to prepare the assembly of the Gate." Stated Rush as McKay nodded his agreement.

"Alright, then prepare to leave in 10 hours…."

"Sir…if I may add the Minnesota and her group is already ready and shouldn't we send a task force to back up our recon force?" inquired Miranda "The Minnesota has all the research equipment that I would need to start and they much more than the Normandy has. If we wait 10 hours for the Einstein to be unloaded and with an 18 hour travel time it will be 28 hours before we can even start carrying out research. Send the Minnesota and we can save 10 hours."

Hackett thought about it for a moment, he had three task forces out already as a screening force with another two deploying out but that would take hours to get everything ready. It was overkill considering the empty space before him and sending a recon in force that could back up the 12 ships he had deployed forward as a recon force.

"Alright, I'll contact the Minnesota's captain you pack you bags." ordered Hackett as Miranda nodded and headed out.

 **It was a short trip down to the armory already he could see Ashely, Vega and Jack where either loaded up or in the middle of getting loaded up**. He walked in to find Ashley finishing putting on her leg armor, she like the other two members of their team wore the sin tight armored suit that was the base of their combat gear. Before her on a small table was a container holding her own personalized armor configuration. Thank seal all anyone had to do was place the armor on the part of the body they wanted and it was locked in place until unlocked. It meant that the armor was in more pieces then the older version but gave more flexibility and with the ablity to customize armor based on the mission. Beside her Jack was putting on her armored top which hugged her lines as very well.

"Hurry up Sheppard or you will be late." said Ashley as Torren nodded before going to his locker and getting out the suit. He stripped to his boxers before slipping into the loss fitting one piece that went from the tip of his toes up into a high collar. It was loss and floppy until with a push of a button on the collar it closed in with a snap turning it skin tight. "Whoever made this was a fan of Spiderman, kind of a rip off that movie's tech, if you ask me."

"You did remember to go to the bathroom right before right because it is a pain once you are suited up." Joked Jack as Torren rolled his eyes at the comment, it wasn't that it wasn't true the armor was a pain in that area. It was possible with flaps and zippers but a pain to do. With that done he picked up his fist pieced his shoes which he put on and tied on along with the mangentic seal just to be safe. Then came leg and café protect followed by groin and chest/back. So like a suit of armor on a knight all that was left to put on was his helmet. He did a once over, everything was in place, his armor shinned black with a silver stripe running down his right arm and in highlights around different armor pieces. Beside him Ashley's armor was blue with black highlights while Vega's was a deep forest green and Jack's was of all things a deep rich purple. Not that color would matter that much, all of the armor had color changing camo micro panels which could change into anything. With a press of a button he could change his armor into any preset or active camo, this current coloring was just the one he had designed and programmed in. The designers of that hadn't considered that soldiers and marines would change the color of their armor to fit their personality and the brass knowing it was pointless trying to stop them didn't forbit it outside of combat and official events.

"Alright load up." ordered Sheppard but they were already ahead of him. They were putting their side arms on their belts along with packs of medical supplies and tools. Since this was a recon mission, they where packing light with mostly weapons and monitoring equipment. The armor had built in slots for ammo and since the switch to rail guns which didn't need as large as a round to do as much damage they had decreased the size of each round allowing them to carry extra.

"EDI we are about ready, can you scan the area around the spire for a safe beam down location?" inquired Sheppard as he picked up his gun, the computer chip in the gun registering his armor and that he was a Tau'ri and unlocking itself. Without that it would take a long process to allow the gun to fire, that had prevented Tau'ri firearms from being used against them by the colonials and others.

"With the radiation I wouldn't recommend using the transporters outside of emergencies." advised EDI "I have already informed the flight crew and the others heading down to you of the situation."

"Looks like we are going to have to use the Owl." Stated Sheppard as he grabbed his helmet and headed out of the armory to find the two pilots doing a check over of the Owl, while the load master/door gunner made sure the cargo pod which would take up a large part of the storage area was in place. Already waiting in his own armor was the head of the larger research team Lieutenant Jacob Taylor and his second in command an old battle-hardened Sergeant named Zaeed Massani. The rest of Taylor's team was standing by most only armed with side arms or carbines. It was their job to study what his team found.

"We ready to go?" inquired Sheppard

"Yes, Major." confirmed the pilot as he got onboard along with her copilot and powered up the Owl. As they powered up the Owl, the doors to the tiny hanger opened and Sheppard like everyone else could see the curve of the planet they were about to explore. He paused for a moment before putting on his helmet, the rounded T shaped visor gave him like everyone else excellent vision.

"Let's go." ordered Sheppard as they bordered the Owl and left the Normandy.

The Owl transport bucked a bit as it dove into the atmosphere of the planet, giving the teams riding in the cargo hold a bumpy ride as it broke through the clouds. Finally, it burst through the last layers of clouds and began to level off.

"What a barren world." said the pilot as he looked out the window at dirty brown and red color world. As they flew closer and closer toward their target they began to see remains of buildings, some great and powerful looking which had fallen over in the nuclear war which had destroyed the world. From above it looked like a dead and abounded world and that whoever called this world home had burned away in the nuclear fire.

 **Unknowingly to the Tau'ri team only a kilometer away from the flight path of the Owl, a small team of aliens which where not of this world sat behind cover monitoring the natives.** These aliens where tall with elongated bodies, above their deep black eyes where two small fleshly horns. With blueish grey skin with a handful being green in tone they would have stood out on the world if it wasn't for their coma equipment.

"The Krogan population in this clan have increased by 5%." Reported the lead spotter on the SGT recon team.

"Not good, with the Genophage they should only be able to have a 1% increase at best." Stated the head of the SGT team, Captain Kirrahe.

"Any idea on what could have caused this increase?" inquired another one of the Salarian Special Group Team (SGT)

"No, could be natural the Krogan biological system has many redundancies which could explain the increase or they managed to get their hands on some of the research the traitor Saren used on his Krogans on Virmire." offered up Captain Kirrahe

"Could be sir." confirmed his younger team member "What will be our…"

Before he could finish a boom filled the air followed moments later by the sound of engines. For the skilled intelligence gathering team they could tell instantly that something was wrong, the engine wasn't making the same noise as a Salarian transport or any other Citadel council member races. Their beliefs where only confirmed when in the distance they spotted a dark shape crossing the sky, it was unlike any ship they had ever seen. It was larger then a normal shuttle and was painted black which made it stand out even more in the sky's of Tuchanka. It also wasn't sleek and smooth like any shuttle and had wings with glowing engines located in the wings and two in the back behind stabilizing wings. It looked like it belonged in the atmosphere of a world just as much as it would in space. Shuttles where generally designed to operatize space over atmosphere flight, this looked to be the other way.

"What is that?" inquired the SGT team members as well as Krogans in the camp below.

"I have no idea." Confirmed Captain Kirrahe as he lifted a pair of bio-binoculars to his eyes and zoomed in on the strange craft. The image leaped forward as he hit the record button, at once the binoculars began to record everything it saw. He could make out writing along the side of the aircraft but it was in no language he knew and the symbol painted on the side of an bottomless triangle with the point pointed up with a circle on top was unlike anything he had seen before.

"Could be smugglers trying to bring in weapons and banned equipment into Tuchanka?" offered up the second in command of the team.

"We have sensors by the relay that would have detected any ship entering the system and would have alerted the Krogan DMZ fleet and we have no alerts." Countered another member of the team.

"If only the council had kept the space station in orbit to search any ship coming in." grumbled the second in command. "Budget cuts."

"They had to get the credits to rebuild the Citadel after the Geth attack from somewhere." offered the younger member "And you know that the Turians weren't going to pay the bill after their fleet came in to save the day. The Council had to make cuts."

"More like Spectre Vakarian and his team saved the day." Countered Captain Kirrahe as he tried not to remember that day, which was hard for someone of his race. "Remember I was there, I saw the Reaper go down."

"You mean the Geth Dreadnought class ship correct or do you actually believe that the Reapers are real?" inquired the second in command, at once Captain Kirrahe knew he was in dangerous water. The idea that a race of hyper intelligence machines which cleaned the galaxy every 50,000 years of advance life was not believed by the bulk of galaxy, saying he believed it could be grounds to remove him from command. In fact only a small group actually believed the threat was real but they weren't allowed to opening show their beliefs for fear of losing their position.

"Real or not, doesn't matter what matters if that the ship class is real." Countered Captain Kirrahe taking the safe path. "Or do you not believe that the Geth could be making more of these Reaper ships?"

"A fair and logical point." Admitted the second in command "We must assume that ships like that will be seen again and plan to deal with them. If Vakarian hadn't shown up with a Turian support fleet when he did we would have lost the Destiny Accession, the Council and maybe the Citadel itself to the Geth."

"Correct, but first we must deal with this." Stated Captain Kirrahe as he watched the strange craft head toward the distant atmosphere stabilizing unit called the Shroud. Below him in the Krogan camp warriors where moving around gathering weapons and headed toward the Shroud. "Inform the Krogan DMZ fleet and Spectre Vakarian and his team."

"They are on planet?" inquired the second in command

"About a hundred kilometers in fact visiting their teammate Wrex and his clan." Stated Captain Kirrahe, not adding that part of their visit was get Wrex prepared for the coming Reaper threat. In a war against the Reapers they would need everyone and most of all the best warriors in the galaxy.

 **Unaware of the threat the Owl touch down at the base of the massive spire in the middle of sandy area.**

"Move." Ordered Sheppard as he and his team moved off the ship with weapons raised. Once cleared the Owl took back off heading back toward the Normandy to pick up the rest of the larger recon team. The moment the Owl cleared away, all of them looked down at the wrist mounted computer screen. With a flick across the touch screen their armor changed, using color sensing camera the armor changed color to better match the surrounding environment allowing them to blend into the red rock work and dusty landscape. The color changing camo changed even the color of their weapons and the darkened visor which allowed them to see changed color, close up someone would spot them but from a distance they blended into the environment made them a lot harder to see. The suit also regulated the body heat that was released into the background so that it blended in with the background heat. On thermal scans they didn't show up, it was the next best thing to active camo at a faction of the power consumption.

"Will you look at that." Stated Ashley as she paused and looked at the stone statues standing in front of a large doorway. Standing on either side where stone statues showing a large alien standing on two legs with large hump on its back which merged with its shoulders giving it a large a powerful profile. Both of them where dressed in armor and one of them had a hand raised with what looked to be part of some kind of gun in its hand. Part of the gun had fallen off. Multiple armor plates covered the skin with ridges running around the top. "This must be how the natives looked."

"I wouldn't want to run into one of those in a dark ally." stated Jacob

"Me neither." Confirmed Sheppard however part of him wasn't so sure, he had grown up with stories about the horrors of the Wraith. To him and many others from the Pegasus galaxy the embodiment of fear and death would always been the pale white grinning face of a Wraith dressed in black waiting to suck the life out of you. In fact Wraiths had become a popular horror movie villain among the Tau'ri films.

"Major over here!" yelled Jacobs voice as Sheppard walked between the two statues and found himself at the base of the spire. He walked briefly in darkness before entering an open-air space in front of the spire, the clash of where stonework met up with sleek metal stood out even more. Multiple computer terminals stood in the open with an elevator at the other end. Jacob and his team where already at work un boxing their own computers and scanning the alien hardware for a place they could plug in.

"Do you think you can get in?" inquired Sheppard

"Yes, the data link system is a little odd and look." Said Jacob as he moved his hand over an area and a holographic display of what had to be a keyboard of some kind along with a holographic screen appeared in golden red light. "Very similar set up to ours."

"Yes, but do you think you can read what it says?" inquired Sheppard as he pointed to the strange symbols appearing on the holographic display.

"That is harder but we just started." confirmed Jacob Tyler "Unless we find a translation file isolated on their computer then we will have to search the massive amounts of file until we either find one or work on translating each. Either way it is going to take a while."

"Alright." confirmed Sheppard as he looked at the set up, there was only four visible ways in, one was an elevator sitting on the ground behind him and therefor no enemy would be coming that way. There was the way be came in, which was a bottle neck which could easy hold off a larger force. Another path leads down under the stonework and was sealed by a metal door. Again, it was a bottle neck, the only massive open was right above them with the open-air sky.

"Kind of stupid having computers open to the elements." stated Ashley

"I have seen and heard dumber things." Countered Jack as she picked up a rock and threw it up through the open hole. It didn't work, instead it smashed into a barrier of some kind and rained down shards of pebbles and dust. "I stand correct, whoever was here has shields."

"Sargent Massandi can you and Captain Taylor hold this position while you wait for rest of the team while we search the area?" inquired Sheppard as Sargent Massandi scanned the area with his battle experienced eyes. This man had been a member of SG17 and had served in battles against the Wraith, ORI, Gua'uld, Colonials and every other conflict the Tau'ri had been through.

"Shouldn't be a problem." Confirmed Massandi "We could fall back to the elevator and hold position up at the top of this thing while we wait for pick up."

"Beaming up is also an option but with this radiation and all those dust storms it would be a risk but if you had to." added Sheppard

"We know." said Jacob

"Alright." confirmed Sheppard as he looked at his recon team. "Let's go do our job."

With that Ashley moved toward one of the cargo crates they had brought down from the Normandy. She opened it to show a padded container with 10 baseball sized objects sitting in foam padding. She picked up two of them and headed toward the underground entrees, she tossed the first object in. It never touched the ground instead it stopped about chest height above the floor and hovered there for a moment before fully activating. The drone which was based of a Kino from Destiny scanned it's the surrounding area before heading down the darkened corridor heading deeper underground. She tossed the second one after the first before going back and tossing two more, all four headed down mapping the tunnels. A fifth one she threw down as well only to order it to stop and go into guard mode at the first fork in the tunnel. It would be a look out for the team who would be stationed here. She did the same thing with the remaining recon drones but only outside sending four out to search with the fifth to stay behind as a guard. As the final drone went out she looked up at the massive sand storm heading toward them.

"Maybe we should check out the underground instead of dealing with this storm?" advised Ashley pointing at the dust storm which was heading toward them. A flash of lightning followed by sound of thunder settled the issue.

"Agreed." confirmed Sheppard "Kinos have an auto return and can move a lot faster than we can."

"I already programmed them to auto return if weather conditions get too bad." Confirmed Ashley

"Good, lets go downstairs then." Ordered Sheppard

"Glad to see our new leader isn't a bone head idiot." confirmed Jack as Sheppard eyed her. "From me that is actually a complement, until someone is confirmed to be otherwise everyone is an idiot in my view."

"You must have a long list of friends." said Vega with a roll of his eyes.

"Let's go underground." ordered Sheppard as he moved toward the underground entrees. Unaware that masked in the dust storm multiple six wheeled heavy trucks with turrets mounted on their back was heading toward the shroud.

 **Up in space, the massive storm containing so much radioactive dusk hide the movement of the vehicles from the sensors of the Normandy which was currently focused on the fuel depot.** The owl transport reached the Normandy and docked without any issue as the rest of the second and larger recon team along with their scientific tools loaded up.

"Owl is departing for return trip." reported EDI as the Normandy kept scanning the fuel depot.

"EDI, is it just me or is something off with the hull of this thing." stated Joker "Looks like it is just made of Trinium alloy, no naquadah at all."

"Strange." stated EDI "I failed to notice that, I have too many scans going at too great a distance."

"Your focus is broken then." laughed Joker "Glade to know IA isn't perfect."

"We are not." confirmed EDI as she turned her attention to the scanners of the hull of the fuel depot. "You are correct no Naquadah at all, not in the hull or any part of the ship."

"They could be saving it for armor on space ships not orbiting unmanned stations." offered Joker but that answer felt somewhat weak. Naquadah/Trinium alloy hulls where everywhere in the Milky Way galaxy and every power from the Tau'ri down to the smallest Free Jaffa nation had ships with Naquadah armor. The mix and blend was always different, a civilian cruise liner didn't have the same armor blend as a Tau'ri battleship and a Tau'ri battleship had a different blend then a Ha'tak class ship.

"I am also detecting floating remains of Heliumn-3." stated EDI

"The fuel?" inquired Joker

"Correct Jeff, before we discovered Naquadah through the gate Helliumn-3 was seen as the next great energy breakthrough but Naquadah surpasses it in all fields." stated EDI "I am surprised you knew that."

"Saw a commercial about how some hobbies was having a go-fund me campaign to start a space racing sport." Answered Joker "Heliumn-3 powered ships was one of the class of ships he was going to have race."

"I see, similar to boat or car races where different kinds of vehicles compete against ships of that kind." offered up EDI as Joker nodded.

"So how much thrust could an advanced Heliumn-3 engine give?" inquired Joker

"Sublight speed only, the mass increase of nearing the speed of light would make Heliumn-3 power ship limited to speeds lower then the speed of light." Countered EDI as Joker raised an eyebrow. "But I assume by that raised eyebrow you are asking about movement within system. That would be impossible to tell without more detail, we would have a thrust to weight advantage in any model I have."

"Alright, that will have to do." confirmed Joker.

 **While the Normandy was scanning it's assigned system one of her sister ships the TAV Josephus Daniels was seconds away from exiting hyperspace in their assigned system.** A twin to the Normandy in every way aside from the name, the TAV Josephus Daniels arrived at its assigned recon system. The Josephus Daniels was under the command of what was likely the oldest Lieutenant in the Tau'ri navy, being in his fifties and starting out as an Ensign onboard a surface ship in fresh out of High School at the age of 18. Back then Ensign Sam Carson had only been looking for a way to escape either a factory job or a farming job, now he was in a space ship at the far edge of the distant galaxy.

"Exiting hyperspace in 30 seconds." Reported the helms woman as Carson stood behind her, to his side was the head of the special forces on the ship, Colonel Drugo. The Spetsnaz officer outranked Carson by miles but had refused to command of the ship. He wanted to be out on missions and leave the ship to the navy people not him.

"Colonel Drugo is your team ready?" inquired Carson

"Of course, Sir, but no habitual worlds are supposed to be in this system." countered Drugo as they exited hyperspace. Seconds after they did alarms began going off and the ships onboard AI brought the rail guns to standby mode. He couldn't fire them himself but he did make them combat ready.

"Sir, we have multiple contacts." reported sensor operator "I have at 7 contacts equal to us in length and another two dozen about half our size. Hard to tell with all those asteroids around that…space station but there could be more we can't see."

"Show me." ordered Carson as the image of something that looked between a cross between a space station and the largest mining operation he had ever seen. It kind of reminded him of a jellyfish with a larger head at the top, seemly made of the remains of either a large asteroid or a micro planet that had been smashed apart. Under it was a large structure with countless extension all of which was put on with what looked to his eye to be no care in the world. Everything was in a red glow which combined with the darkness of the dominate metal they used it gave the whole thing an unwelcoming glow.

"Interesting, the locals seam to have spotted us." added Drugo as the veteran of the Colonial War looked at the seven larger ships moving toward them. The ships where of no uniformed designed and seamed drastically different that couldn't be put off to different ship class. Those ships had to be made by different races.

"Helm pull us back and keep us moving make sure we have a clear hyperspace window." ordered Carson "Give me a scan of those ships and the station."

"Aye, aye sir." said the officers as the Joshepus Daniels moved to keep a distance away from the ships and the station. That was when more of the system came into focus, two very large and very strange objects appeared on sensors along with a 3 planets and judging from a ship along side it fueling up a fuel station.

"Sir, we are detecting a lot of Zephry from that place." stated the sensor operator "I mean a lot, more then what can be found on Unia back in our galaxy."

"Well that explains the large mining operation, Zephry is the rarest element in the universe and is the key to ZPMs." Stated Drugo

"Sir, we are getting a broadcast from the station." stated an officer

"Put it on." ordered Carson as the image of what on the surface appeared to be a purple skinned woman in a semi-veiling outfit appeared. She had no hair as far as Carson could see and her skin was mostly purple with darker marks around her eyes and bottom of her lip. She had a white jacket which stopped just below her breast which was covered in black leather with a slit in the middle. She began speaking in a tongue no one understood only to stop and look at them in confusion for a moment before turning her head to look off screen. That was when they could see what was either fins or maybe thick short tentacles coming off the back of her head like a hair style. She yelled off screen for a moment and waited.

"Sir, we are getting a data packet, scanning now for viruses and other threats." Said the electronic warfare officer. He gave a thumbs up before opening it. "Looks like a translator program, still going to isolate the computer don't want to risk it."

"Put it on and send one of our own." ordered Carson as he turned his head off screen to show that he too was at work. After a short pause the program started up and it was his turn to wait while her technicians went to work.

"I have seen Krogans, Turians, Vorchas and even Collectors so who the fuck are you and why did you come to Omega." Stated the woman, that wasn't the welcome anyone was expecting.

"I am Lieutenant Carson of the TAV Joshepus Daniels we are from the Tau'ri Alliance." explained Carson "Who are you?"

"I am Aria T'Loak and this is Omega." Stated Aria with a grin which reminded Carson of a cat who was playing with a mouse. If that was true, she had no idea that this mouse could bite back but on the other hand he had next to no knowledge of her abilities he could be the mouse after all. "So we have ourselves a little first contact situation, how fun. Maybe I should just take your ship with my ships and then be done with you. From what my scans show you don't even have Element Zero power core, so you can't run away."

Some fear built up in Carson but if he read this alien's body language right she wasn't down speaking.

"However, that begs the question how did you get here? We saw you come out of a vortex of energy which hints that you can travel faster then light but with no element zero power core to lighten your mass as you near light speed. That should be impossible." stated Aria "So how did you do it?"

"I will not go into too much detail, but we use an element we call Naquadah to fuel or ships not this element zero." said Carson as he looked toward his Ship borne AI, "Mr. Cooley will you please pull up the atomic image for Naquadah."

"Yes, sir." Said the AI as the image of Naquadah's atomic structure appeared on the screen beside Carson. It took a moment but Aria's eyes widened a bit and a smile crossed her face.

"You must have a good amount of this to use it as fuel, to us an ounce of Kiliona is worth almost half a million credits." Stated Aria with a smile. "Which means maybe we can work out a deal."

"Maybe we can." Said Carson as he went through the ship's inventory in his head. Naquadaha was one of the elements that replicator technology couldn't make, so every ship carried some Naquadaha plates that could be put into the Asgard designed machine to make items from Naquadaha. It could anything from replacement armor for the ship to Naquadaha tipped rounds for the guns if they wanted to pack a bigger punch. "I can give you five plates of Naquadaha each one 4 feet by 8 feet and an inch thick. If you are willing to deal in information and some technology samples."

The smile that crossed Aria's face was that of a cat who had just gotten what she wanted and didn't even have to work for it.

"Now…that is a deal I can work with." said Aria "And making first contact with you, Tau'ri is it? No matter either way it will give me a bragging rights on the damn Council. I will pull my ships back and come on in, let's talk face to face. Drinks at Afterlife are on me."

"I will send my way team officer Colonel Drugo and his team." explained Carson

"Very well, here is docking location my men will be waiting for whoever you send like I said Drinks are on me." stated Aria as she disappeared from the screen.

"I think we found a crime boss." Stated Drugo as Carson nodded his head as the Josephus Daniels moved forward toward beaming range. They weren't going to dock the ship but instead beam onboard. Scans showed no problems, no shields that would prevent them from doing it and it would keep the ship safer.

"I agree, that is why I offered so much." confirmed Carson "If the price of Naquadah is as high as she claims then the 5 boards we are giving her will be more then enough to keep her honest. She wouldn't want to break a possible stream of money from trading with us."

"Considering all she is going to give us is information and technology samples the price is low compared to the rewards for her. Still better to only take two boards with us at first, the other three once we get out information." added Drugo as Carson nodded in agreement. "I'll get my team ready and grab a gift as well for the lady."

"A gift?" inquired Carson as the Russian grinned before pulling out a flash.

"I have an unopened bottle of the best Russian Vodka." stated Drugo "It is only the proper and diplomatic thing to do, isn't it?"

"Just warn her, we don't know if Vodka will hurt her alien body." Explained Carson as Drugo nodded his head in understand. Carson turned and looked at the communication officer. "Send the translator program out to the Prometheus and then have them check it out before sending it to the rest of the fleet."

"Aye, Aye sir." confirmed the communication officer.

 **The underground section of this complex by the spire was a strange mix of ancient looking stone work and much more advanced technology.** The Kinos drones had spread out headed of them mapping everything which was linked back to their power armors. This allowed them to see what was ahead of them most of the time, the issue was that the Kinos had found multiple staircases leading up and into an ever-growing sand storm, so the Kinos didn't venture up into the storm. This meant that there was the possibility that something could come down an entree and surprise them.

"How long ago did the Destiny pass through this galaxy?" inquired Jack

"Well Destiny wasn't the first ship to pass through here, it would have been the Seed ships who would have built the stargate network." Explained Sheppard "That would have been around 1 billion ago according to the records and this galaxy was actually one of the ones they tested their seed ships in before they sent the other ships outs. I think that was 75 million years ago, Destiny wasn't launched until the Seed ships where very far ahead, since their job was to build the Stargate Networks while the Destiny's job was to explore those networks."

"25 million years what the hell took them so long?" inquired Jack "Did the Ancients move that slowly, where they like those damn lizards, the Race?"

"No, it is more like if you are going to launch a mission that will take millions if not a billion years to finish you want everything to work and part of that is testing everything." Explained Ashley.

"Still there is no gate network." Countered Jack

"That is the strange thing, according to the records there is supposed to be." stated Sheppard as suddenly all four of their life form sensors went off causing all four of them to tense up. They all raised their weapons and undid the safeties. This caused their rifles to go through a short 5.5 second charging sequence, it was required every time the gun fired for the first time and for the first round in a new magazine.

"I got five of them now, they are around the corner." Whispered Ashley as Sheppard moved to the corner and aimed his rifle around the corner. The camera at the end of the rifle linked to their visors, the image that appeared was a creature about the size of a large dog with brown stripped coloring with multiple rows of teeth and glowing eyes in the dark. There where four of them which he could see, the fifth was likely behind the other four. The larger one of them nipped at a smaller one just like something out of an animal documentary.

"Looks like kind of like wolves." stated Vega as everyone relaxed a bit but remained on edge.

"Alright, I'll scare those things off you all cover me in case they attack." Ordered Sheppard

"No problem." confirmed Ashley as she switched places with Torren and aimed her rifle down range. "I got you covered."

"Good." Confirmed Sheppard as he moved out from behind cover and into the open, the moment he did a bullet or something similar pass just over his head. He reacted perfectly by moving to the other side of the hallway and raising his rifle and looking down range from the direction the round came from. Out of the darkness came the alien who had shot at him. It was giant, over 7 foot tall with large broad shoulders with a hump. He wore armor of some kind and In his hands was what looked to be a rifle of some kind. With a scream in a language the Tau'ri couldn't understand he pointed toward them before firing again.

"Well the planet's locals aren't dead after all." Said Jack as more of those aliens came running around the far corner with weapons raised.

"And they aren't friendly." confirmed Sheppard as more bullets filled the air, they where advancing and showing no interest in stopping. Sheppard aimed his rifle around the corner and fired a railgun round down range striking above he head of the first of the creatures. It was a warning shot but all it did was anger them as pushed forward even more. With a sigh, he took aim at the leader creature and pulled the trigger. The rail gun round flew down the barrel of his gun and slammed into the creature, it stumbled backwards for a second only to charge forward again. "Fire at will!"

 **I would like to take a moment to address some PM/review questions and explain some things. First for time line, this story takes place at the moment right after Mass Effect 2 but before the Reaper invasion in Mass Effect 3, so Mass effect 2 is over but the Reapers have yet to arrive. Secondly the couple in all the times I have played Mass Effect series I have always played as a Male Soldier Sheppard and always as a Paragon, so Torren Sheppard will be for the most part Paragon and don't expect him to become a Biotic. However since I know people also play as their Sheppard as Renegade and I don't want to avoid the story plots that opens up so Colonel Drugo will be taking that role. He will not be the main character but he and his ship will effect the story and will follow a more Renegade path. As for couples because I have gotten a lot of PMs asking about that, you will have to wait and see I will add in my play through I had Sheppard get with 3 different characters so they are mostly likely but I am still considering moves. Lastly as for armor, I am trying to go for a cross between Mass Effect armor, Halo ODST armor (I really like their helmets) with a little bit of Starship Trooper armor from the animated films. Now I hope this answers most of the questions and until next time please keep reading. Thanks Wilkins75.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4 Contact Part 2**

The moment Major Torren Sheppard pulled the trigger on his rail gun assault rifle a round flew out of the barrel of his gun, within milliseconds another round started down the same path followed moments later by a third. Each round by the old standards was tinny for a rifle being only about half the size of a 22 short round that would be used in older pistols. With the rail gun that round packed more stopping power then 50 caliber rounds and in his current magazine he had 125 of them with multiple magazines attached to his armor. The round itself wasn't even made the same, it required no gunpowder to fire and therefor the entire round was fired no need for a case. The round was also tipped with Naquadah, in the old days at the start of the Stargate program it would take dozens of rounds to drop a Jaffa in his Naquadah armor, with one of these it took a single round to punch that armor. That armor and others like it where still standard among the Jaffa and Lucian Alliance members while the newer armor he wore could stop a couple of the rounds. In the eternal struggle between armor and weapons Naquadah with its enhanced strength was a gift to both sides, it gave extra protection but also added extra stopping power to rounds.

Here the Naquadah tipped rounds flew down range and hit the alien which had been charging forward took dozens of hits and somehow remained standing. At first all he did was cause him to stop however after a couple of rounds a kind of shimmer and after that the rounds began to have more effect before with one last burst of fire the alien dropped down.

"Ash did you see that shimmer too?" said Sheppard over the combat channel as more of those Aliens came into range and began to fire at them filling the hallway with bullets.

"Yes, they must have shields of some kind." said Ashley thanks to the combat communication link they didn't have to yell at each other. "Still if you hit them enough their shields drop."

"This is Sheppard, we have contact with locals and they are not friendly." reported Sheppard over the command radio channel.

"Sheppard, this is Taylor please say again this planet has living locals?" inquired Taylor

"Yes, and they are shooting at us and they have shields." repeated Sheppard "Get ready to go back to the Normandy. EDI do you read me."

"I hear you Sheppard, we are coming back toward you." confirmed EDI "We are on the other side of the system, ETA: 10 minutes."

"It will take 20 minutes alone to download the data core of these machines." reported Jacob Taylor "Can you hold them off? Or talk to them?"

The bullets just kept coming filling the hallway with rounds, each round making large holes in the stone wall at the end of the hall. Within moments the air was full of dust as the stone began to be worn down by bullets. He thought about the forces under Taylor's command, it was larger then his squad over double in size. However most of them where armed with pistols and carbines not rifles or heavier weapons. They were also mostly scientist and researchers, not special forces.

"Kind of hard to talk to them when we don't understand a word they are saying." stated Torren "Download what you can and get ready to pull out."

"Understood, sir." confirmed Taylor as more rounds filled the air.

After seeing the first of their group fall the others were much more careful firing and taking cover behind fallen stone blocks and the far end of the short hallway gave them great cover. Luckily for the Tau'ri they didn't have to expose themselves to enemy fire to shoot, they could aim their weapons around the corner and aim using cameras. While not as actuate as they would have been firing from he shoulders they only exposed their hands. Suddenly the three large rounds flew toward the Tau'ri, they were large enough for the Tau'ri could see and all three of them exploded against the wall at the end of the hall. It sent all four of them flying away from the blast breaking their fire. The aliens took advantage of the lack of fire and moved forward, by the time Torren and the others returned to their positions the Aliens where too close.

"Fall back, I'll cover you." Ordered Torren as he ran the opposite direction which confused his team until he took cover behind a column built into the side of the wall. "GO!"

Torren and Ashley locked eyes for a moment, before finally they began to pull back, it was a short distance to the next bend in the twisting hallway. They had just disappeared when the first of those Aliens came around the corner followed by two more. The one in the lead pointed in the direction of the retreating Tau'ri not noticing Torren behind him. He never heard the grenade being armed until it was too late, after counting down a few tense seconds Torren broke cover and threw the grenade. He didn't throw it in an arch like he had been trained to do with a grenade. Instead he reached back to his childhood on Atlantis playing catch with his Father, John in one of the parks which where spread out around the city. He threw it like a baseball and strike the alien in the center of the group in the back of that massive hump. He had timed it perfectly the grenade went off, inside the grenade wasn't just high explosives but a mix of Dragon Fire Napalm. The green fire which was developed was a more advanced version of the rediscovered Greek fire could only be put out in two ways, Salt and beam weapons. The fire spread out over the three aliens. They began to panic as the flames burned through their shields and the heat reached through the armor. They began to throw sand which covered the stone floor on the flames to put them out but that was in fact the last thing they should have done as the flames only grew and intensified. The green flames became so large that it blocked off the route for the aliens behind them. With no threat Torren moved out and studied the burning remains of the aliens, he was cut off as well.

"Son of bitch." cursed Sheppard as he tapped the side of his helmet and activated his radio. "This is Sheppard, I am cut off. I'll have to find my own way back."

"Sheppard we could just beam you out if we have to but I recommend against it due to the background radiation messing with the locking systems." explained EDI

"If we have to risk it we will do it." Stated Sheppard "Ashley get everyone ready to go."

"Will do." confirmed Ashley over the radio as Torren moved down the hallway hoping that there was a way out the didn't require getting beamed out.

 **Onboard the Normandy the emergency call from the ground team got everyone on the small ship attention, the call to battle stations sent men and women running to their stations.** Some went to damage control areas, while others went to man the computers which operated everything from sensors to weapons. The Normandy's engines pushed the ship toward the planet however they had been studying the massive station and it would take them a few minutes to reach the planet and deploy the Owl to pick up the ground team.

"That dust storm will be a major issue, it will be hard for the Owl to land and take off safety." Stated EDI

"Forget the Owl." Countered Joker as they passed by the spinning center area of the unknown station. "I'll bring the Normandy down and we can pick them up that way."

"That would work better." confirmed EDI as she ran the conditions through her electronic brain "The Normandy's shields and engines are a lot better and we can pick the whole team up in one go."

"My thoughts…." started Joker as suddenly alarms began to go off.

"Unknown contacts directly behind us." Reported EDI, as outside a ship just as large as them came out only 2 and half kilometers behind them. Then four more of the ships appeared two on the other side of the station with other two beside the first one for a total of five ships.

"Son of a bitch, where the fuck did they come from!" yelled Joker as he dove the Normandy away from the unknown ships. As he dove he got his first look of the ships, they had a long center frame with what looked to be short wings coming out of the back. The wings where angled downwards, one of the ships turned toward the Normandy and from under both of those wings came two short bursts of light which traveled out and toward the front of the Normandy. The rounds hit the forward edge of the outer shield lowering it but not breaking it, the shields quickly recharged. Like all Tau'ri ships the Normandy had two shields, an outer bubble-like shield which was common across the Milky Way galaxy and a second hull tight shield which was similar to the Ancients. Some battleships and Carriers had three level of shields and the Ragnarok had the most shields for a ship with six levels of shields.

"No warning shot? No calls over the communication channel?" inquired Joker "Still what the hell, they just shot energy weapons at us."

"Those weren't energy weapons, no judging from the energy drop it seams to be a large rail guns similar to the ones we have on battleships." Reported EDI "The glow from the heat that is generated when they are fired is what makes them look to be energy weapons, but they are not."

"Still what the hell, they just shot energy at us." Stated Joker

 **Unknown to the Normandy's chew onboard the Turrian Cruiser which had just fired their ship mounted Mass Accelerated weapons, the Ships commander glared at the weapon's officer.**

"I ordered you to give the ship a warning ship across their bow and you hit their Kinetic Barriers." stated the Captain as he glared down at the weapon's officer.

"Sorry, sir but it doesn't make sense their barriers are very far off from their hull." explained the gunner

"Sir, we still don't have a ship ID on them." reported the sensor operator as the other four ships moved to capture the unknown ship. They would do this by cutting off routes and bringing down the ships barrier until they had no choice but to surrender. "The ship doesn't have a transponder code and the ships frame doesn't match any known designs."

"Still they are in the Krogan DMZ, they have to be a weapon's smuggler of some kind." added the second in command as the strange ship darted around at high speed. "They need to be brought in and brought to justice."

"Sir, that is the thing I am not sure." Admitted the sensor operator as the Turrian second officer looked at him, to question someone above you was not looked at with kind eyes. "Sir, I am not detecting any Mass Effect fields, what kind of ships doesn't have Mass Effect Fields?"

"None, there would be no way to travel faster then light or power anything that would be needed in a modern ship." stated the Captain as the Second Officer stiffen a bit, he couldn't raise the issue with the sensor officer he was only providing his option based on information his commander didn't have.

"Sir, if that is true then how do they have barriers?" countered the Second officer as the Captain looked at him. "With no element zero core how can they generate enough power to have barriers?"

Before they could think of how that is possible, the unknown ship came toward them the flash of an atomic bomb going off between the oncoming unknown ship and the Turrian fleet blinded the ships. The bomb detonated far enough away to prevent any actual harm however the barriers which are designed to stop rounds coming in at light speed did lower a bit from the extreme heat and radiation caused by the blast do no harm the hull armor absolved the heat and radiation with ease. The worse the crew felt was a slight shake as a shock wave hit the ship and the only damage came from a few dinner plates in the mess hall falling down and breaking.

"Report!" yelled the commander as the flash dissipated only to show no enemy ship. "Where did it go?"

"I don't have it on sensors, doing a visual search….not found." stated the sensor operator.

"They couldn't have left the system, we are too far away from the Relay for them to reach it in time for us not to see them leave and if they did leave the system outside of the relay we would detect them on sensors still." stated the second officer, the idea of a cloaking system on a ship never even crossed their mind because no ship had a cloaking system and even if they did no system was perfect enough to hide a moving ship or person for that matter.

 **Unknown to them the Normandy had beamed a sunburst nuke, which was a weak nuke used to clear away enemy fighters that where swarming a ship to blind the unknown enemies before cloaking.** Under a perfect cloak they moved past the unknown ships scanning them for information before heading back toward the planet.

"Sheppard, we have engaged unknown ships by the station. No damage done to either side we used a sunburst to blind them and we are approaching you under cloak." Radioed Joker

"Understood." confirmed Sheppard as he kept moving through the tunnels.

"Sheppard we have a problem, we planned to dive down into the atmosphere to get you but if we do that under a cloak we will be spotted with ease when the dust strikes our shields." Explained EDI "The more I study the storm, the less likely I think that the beam out is an option. With all that radiation in the dust moving around it will extremely risky to beam anyone out."

"The good news is that judging from our sensors the storm should past within an hour."

"Alright." confirmed Sheppard as he moved through the tunnels. "Ash, Jacob did you hear that?"

"Yes, the good news is that so far they haven't found us yet." confirmed Jacob over the radio "And we have tested the elevator, we can fall back to the top of this structure and hold out there until the storm clears out then we can risk either a beam out or an owl pick up."

"Alright, move everyone you can up there now, take your equipment and supplies we will hold the line there." confirmed Sheppard "Ash you and the team hold the bottom but if these aliens show up head up in the elevator and destroy it, don't wait for me."

"Sheppard, we aren't going to leave you down there alone with all those things with no way to get to us or us to rescue you." stated Ash

"That is an order." ordered Sheppard as he came to a dead end in the tunnel network, in truth it wasn't a true dead end, there was a staircase leading out of the tunnels and out to the surface. There he could see the sand storm which howled outside. His suits internal sensors showed that the wind speed was hovering just below 80 miles an hour would almost tie the record known on Earth. Either way it was his only way out of the tunnel. It was a horrible tactical position, he was trapped in a tunnel and he didn't have the high ground. His only move was to head out into the storm and to make his way back to the spire through the storm, worse case he wouldn't be pinned down in the tunnel. "I'll make my own way back to you."

With a deep breath he moved out into the storm, the sand whipped across his visor basically blinding him and the wind almost knocking him down. His suit's computer sensing the lack of visibility suit switched first to a mix of night vision and thermal vision. Even this didn't help much but the thermal outline of the spire could be seen in the distance and an outline of the stone structures around him could be seen. Other then that he was blind, the only thing that gave him any real range of vision was the life sign detector. So all but blinded and with an unknown number of enemies nearby he began to move toward the spire in the middle of a sand storm.

 **Far away from Sheppard, on the main docking arm of Omega had been cleared of all traffic, with the only ship anywhere near the arm being Aria's personal ship.** The pleasure ship which carried enough firepower to go toe to toe with a Turrian cruiser and win sat in it's assigned docking space. The rest of the area had been cleared away as they expected the TVA Josephus Daniels to pull in and dock with the massive mining operation. Standing by the arm waiting for their arrival where a dozen of Aria's personal guards.

"I want you all to do your best and make sure to do detailed scans of everything. We need to know everything we can about the Tau'ri." Yelled the head of the Aria's personal guard a Batarian, he glared at the other 11 members of the detail with his four eyes.

"Well nice to know we are of such interest." Came a new voice as he spun around to see four figures dressed in strange armor standing in the loading dock area. They where about the same height as was about the same height of a Turrian but shorter than a Krogan. He looked behind them to see no ship docked and in fact the strange ship was still a good distance off but looked as if it was coming to a stop.

"Are you holograms of what?" inquired the head guard to the man in the front, he man in the armor a black number with patterns of silver moved forward and offered his hand. He didn't have a helmet on and showed his fleshly skin which had a white tone to it. His eyes where a dark brown and his hair was brown as well bordering on black. He had short hair on the top of his head and over his eyes. An ear piece was visible in one of the fleshly ears which sided his face.

"Colonel Drugo Tau'ri Special forces." He said as the Batarian's four eyes moved up and down judging his alien, the old saying among his people not to trust anyone with less then four eyes filling his mind. With some hesitation he took the offered hand and knew instantly he wasn't dealing with a hologram. "Now shall we go meet your boss?"

"Follow us." Said the Batarian as they lead the four Tau'ri members down the docking arm and out into a courtyard, across from the arm was a large building with neon signage and burning flame hologram behind it. Micro screens built into the contact lenses Drugo had put in just for this, translated the words from their native words to the words "Afterlife." They passed by a lengthy line of different aliens all of whom turned and looked at the new comers with interest. The Tau'ri returned the looks of the slightly taller armored bird like alien, more four eyed aliens, aliens that looked like a cross between an amphibian and a tall Asgard and standing by the door was a massive alien on all four talking very slowly.

"No…you may not come in…new customers are not allowed at the moment…please come back later." Said the alien with possibly the strangest mouth they had ever seen. The massive doors opened as they entered a long hallway with screens on either side showing flames. When the doors at the end of that hallway opened the sound of music filled the air, it wasn't a song per say but a steady beat that one could dance too. On the floor where people dancing, a lot of them where the same alien that Aria was only most of these ladies had a blue tint to their skin not a purplish one. Some of them where even dancing on tables like strippers to aliens of different races.

"I think we found our first strip club." laughed Drugo as they where lead around and up a flight of stairs. "I wonder if we can high command to allow some shore leave."

Finally, they found themselves standing before a private booth looking over the dance floor and massive bar. On either side of the private booth where two armed guards, one of them was the bird like alien with what looked to be armored feathers or something of the like coming out of the back of his head. On the other side was a giant of an alien over 7 maybe pushing 8 foot tall alien with a huge hump on it's back and giant shoulders. His skinned looked armored with plates forming around the face and any visibly spot outside of it's armor. Behind them stood two aliens one was a thin alien about the height of a human with large eyes and a mix of amphibian and maybe a hint of Asgard in him. The thing that jumped out was that his armor had a huge conclave chest with a fake ring poking out giving the allusion of a chest. He turned those dark eyes toward the last figure, a beautiful woman with a figure to die as she stood they're in black skin tight pants with a short white jacket with a symbol on it's back.

"So, your Colonel Drugo?" inquired Aria as she turned and faced the newly arrived Tau'ri. The leader was the most interest to her since he would be making the deal the others stood back likely eyeing her guards in the same way they eyed them. "I was promised five plates of Kiliona 4 feet by 8 ft? I don't see them?"

"Would you bring the goods and pay for a deal upfront, Aria?" inquired Drugo as a smirk crossed her face, but it wasn't one of anger only one of agreement.

"Well one could hope that being a first contact you are ignorant of how the real galaxy works." stated Aria with a slight cool laugh.

"Sorry, not our first time at this." stated Drugo "Even so we did bring you a sample to show you the goods and to pay for your time, I assume as leader of Omega your time is important?"

"You can call me leader, I am the boss, CEO or Queen if you like, I am Omega and here there is only one rule Don't Fuck with Aria." stated Aria as Drugo grinned.

"I like it, reminds me of the rules when I dealt with some members of the Lucian Alliance." laughed Drugo as he reached into the side apartment built into his armor. Beside him the guards aimed their pistols, but Aria waved them off as Drugo pulled out a block of metal. It was about half the size of a bar of gold and it was much heavier. He moved forward and placed the bar on the small coffee table which sat between the two of them. Aria studied the dull looking bar only to nod to the Asgard like alien who moved forward. A hologram ring appeared around his arm and he waved it over the bar. It took a few seconds.

"It's sold Kiliona, 250 ounces and at half a million credits an ounce that is…" stated the alien

"More then enough for us to get business started." interrupted Aria waving off the alien.

"Sorry but I have to know where did you get all this Kiliona?" inquired the alien as Aria glared at him.

"Kiliona as you call it, is known as Naquadah to us. While not as common as say Iron is common enough from where we are from." said Drugo as he reached into his pack side pack again. Once again the guards where on edge, they where even more so when he pulled out a magazine for his rifle which was strapped to his back. He unloaded a single round, to the confusion of the aliens it was a large round, about the half size of a 22 short pistol round. He tossed the round to the alien who caught it. "Scan that and our armor if you like, you will find that the round has a Naquadah tip and our armor is made out of Naquadah."

"So the price of Kiliona is going to go down, when you flood the market." stated Aria as she looked at the bar. "Still it is a very in demand metal, only places they have really found them is on the mass relays and some parts of the Citadel itself which makes that supply unreachable and a few random asteroids."

"Mass Relays?" inquired Drugo

"You really don't know what Mass Relays are?" inquired Aria

"That is one of the things we want to know more about." explained Drugo as Aria nodded.

"Alright, sit down and lets talk." stated Aria before looking at an aid "Drinks are on the house."

"Glad to hear." said Drugo as he reached into his pack and pulled a glass bottle with a clear liquid. "It is considered good luck to drink while making a deal, so let's make a deal right now, I try a drink of your choose and you try one of mine."

"Very well, I like doing business over drinks, but we scan each other drinks just to be safe from poison and the like." stated Aria as Drugo nodded as the two of them sat down. Aria turned and looked at one of her guards standing behind the other Tau'ri. "Bring up some of the Goddess Above brand Brandy, my favorite vintage."

"At once." confirmed the guard as he moved off and Aria turned back to her guest.

"So you clearly don't know anything so you want the basic knowledge of the galaxy?" explained Aria as she crossed one leg over the other.

"For starters, we want maps, historical information of the species of this galaxy, political and military power structure and samples of technologies." explained Drugo as Aria leaned back a bit and studied the Tau'ri man.

"All that is do able, in fact very easy." admitted Aria "You could get most of that well beside the weapon samples in a public library for free. When do you want it?"

"As soon as possible." said Drugo as Aria turned and looked toward the Asgard like alien behind her.

"You heard our guest get all the data we have about the history, political and power structure of the galaxy and get it up to us as soon as possible." Ordered Aria

"At once and the technology samples?" inquired the alien

"That will take more time but we give our guest the information he wants first." Stated Aria as the Alien nodded his head and moved off. "Salarians…I hate them sometimes."

"So, they are called Salarians." stated Drugo as their drinks arrived, a fine clear bottle with a blue liquid in it sat on a tray with four shot glass sized glasses.

"Yes, he is a Salarian they are the brains of the galaxy. Their minds run so fast no wonder they have such a short lifespan." stated Aria as she reached over and poured two shots of the liquid. "Now this one over here."

She pointed toward a giant of an alien with a massive hump on it's back and shoulders.

"He is a Krogan, the best warrior race in the existence. If you want to win a battle bring a Krogan." Said Aria as the Krogan stood up a bit more in pride. "But beside him, the one with the rifle he is a Turrian. If you want to win a war, bring a Turrian."

"And you if I may ask?" inquired Drugo

"I am an Asari, we basically run the galaxy considering we found the Citadel after the Protheans died out and formed the council." stated Aria as blue energy began to dance around her hands as the glasses raised off the table, each one surrounded by blue energy. "Then again it helps that we are all natural biotics and live for a 1000 years."

"I see how that would be useful." said Drugo as he reached out and took his glass, the energy dissipated and he held it for a moment, just long enough for the bio sensors in his suit to do a scan and come back clean.

"Yes, it is very useful." Said Aria as she took her own glass and lifted it toward Drugo "To a deal, well made and one that both parties benefit."

"To a deal." Confirmed Drugo as he hit her glass with his and took a drink of the blue liquid. It was possibly one of the smoothest things he had ever tasted but yet the flavor was hard to hit, kind of like a mix of blue berries with a creamy after taste.

"I love this stuff." Admitted Aria as she looked at her own drink "Helps that it has been aged almost 10,000 years."

"It sure does." Confirmed Drugo as he reached over and grabbed the other two cups and opened his bottle of fine vodka and poured two glasses, as he did Aria moved a hand over the glasses as a golden ring of energy covered her hand. "Let me guess a sort of computer and phone all in one?"

"Yes, along with other things kind of surprised you don't have anything like it." admitted Aria as Drugo held up his hand and pointed to a computer screen built into the inside of his forearm armor.

"We have a civilian version which has a holographic screen however a glowing holographic screen is kind gives away position in combat." Explained Drugo as he handed her the shot of Vodka and once again they raised their glassed and Drugo with practiced experienced shot down the Vodka and slammed the glass upside down on the table. Aria followed a second later as she took in the drink, before nodding her approval.

"So tell me Drugo, tell me about the Tau'ri." Inquired Aria as Drugo grinned.

"You want information as well, I can see that." laughed Drugo before leaning forward and pouring a drink for himself some of the brandy before leaned back against the couch. "Well that is fine by me, hell once our mission's leader meets with this Citadel Council you call it everyone in your space will know. What do you want to know?"

"Well the first question is where your space is?" inquired Aria as she poured herself another shot of Vodka. Drugo grinned and thought about it for a moment as he positioned himself as best he could. Still it was a half-educated guess as he pointed toward the entrees of Afterlife.

"About 25 or 30 galaxies that way." answered Drugo as Aria stopped raising her glass to her lips and looked at him trying to judge if he was telling the truth, but the deadpan look on his face made her believe what everything she knew about the galaxy to be wrong. "I am not lying to you, we are from another galaxy."

"By the Goddess." said Aria as she downed the drink and poured another one right away before eyeing the bottles in front of her. She turned to an aid "Go down and get a couple more bottles, we will need it."

 **Onboard the Tau'ri Battleship Minnesota the crew the bulk of which had only just arrived from Valhalla through the stargate where still in the middle of getting settled in.** The ship along with it's task force of a pair Daedalus class cruisers and another pair Galahad class destroyers traveled cruised through hyperspace. They had left the bulk of the fleet behind and was still forming up back with the Prometheus and would be hours behind them.

"ETA until we reach the Normandy and their discovery?" inquired the Captain of the massive battleship.

"15 hours at current cruising speed." Stated the helm officer as the Captain nodded his head. They where in no rush, the entire fleet wouldn't be ready to come after them for another 8 hours at least and while unloading the Prometheus couldn't travel in hyperspace. It could travel using sub light engines while unloading if she really had to but there was little point of doing it and only made life harder for the crew unloading the massive ship. Better to just sit still and wait for the unloading process to finish before heading out. "We could cut that down to 11 and a half if we push the engines."

"No real need, we aren't in a hurry." Stated the Captain "Moving at battle speed for that long wears down the engines."

"I know sir, just giving options." explained the young officer, as the Captain nodded his head.

"Sir, we just got a communication from the Prometheus." Said the communication officer as the Captain turned and walked toward that station. The bridge of the Missouri class battleship was shaped in an almost V formation with the Captain or commanding officer of the ship standing in the back on a raised section with different parts of the wall assigned to different fields. There was also a lower level that could be reached by a two short staircases near the center of the bridge. Down below where sub systems controls and the like. The bridge itself was located deep in the heart of the ship to help protect it from enemy fire, while a secondary bridge was also built into the ship should this one be destroyed.

"What is it?" inquired the Captain

"It looks the Josephus Daniel found a mining colony called Omega and the "Crime lord" that seems to run it. They are in the process of getting maps, history and samples of technologies but they got a translation program for a group of multiple races in this galaxy called the Citadel Council." Reported the Communication officer

"Alright, put it into the computer but follow protocol." ordered the Captain

"Aye, Aye sir." Confirmed the officer as he put the file with the translation program in its own isolated computer behind multiple firewalls and isolated from the main computer. He had just finished that when another transmission came over the channel.

"Sir, we have a message from the Normandy they are under fire from unknown ships and their ground team is taking fire as well and is cut off from the ship." reported the Communication officer as the report generated by the Normandy's AI and signed off by their pilot was transferred to his personal computer pad. He scanned the report; the ships had come out of FTL by that object they were going to study without being detected by the Normandy's systems. The Normandy had cloaked but a dust storm in combination with background radiation was messing with the beaming system leaving the ground team cut off. The good news was according to this the storm would move out in about an hour then all that would be needed would be to move within transport range and beam up the team. There was nothing he could do, he could order an increase in speed but that would wear down the engines and he didn't want to do that. The Normandy was on it's own.

"Send our time table to the Normandy and confirm that they got the translation program." Ordered the Captain. "And order the Engine room, I want to go as fast as possible without risking the engines."

"Yes, sir." Said the officer as the message went out to the distant Normandy.

 **The message with the translation program had already reached the Normandy and had already been sent down to the ground team.**

"Well shall we try talking with these guys?" inquired Joker as the cloaked Normandy moved near an asteroid, if the unknown ships where able to track their broadcasts they would use the asteroid as cover as they cut the link. EDI ran her fingers over the keys, that was all of show but she did it anyway.

"We are ready." confirmed EDI as she looked at Joker. He took a deep breath before nodding his head.

"Attention unknown ships, this is the TAV Normandy of the Tau'ri Alliance do you receive me?" inquired Joker over the radio as he waited for a response. He didn't have to wait long.

"TAV Normandy this is Captain Tolin of the Turrian Cruiser Juvica assigned to the Krogan DMZ, you are in violation of Citadel Council Law by coming to Tuchanka." Stated the Captain of this ship. "By council law you must submit to inspection and since you ran your ship is subject to impoundment."

"Well that isn't going to happen." Stated Joker, "We are not part of this Citadel Council and we are explorer who had no idea we were violating your laws. If you allow us to move in and pick up our people on the ground, then we will pull back and leave the area."

"If your people are still alive when we find them they will be arrested for breaking the law." Stated the Captain. "Only Council Spectre and their ships are allowed to come and go from system without being inspected by military personal or filling out a flight plan. Now surrender your ship, there is only a single one of you and six of us."

"Six, you need to recount there is only five ships." stated Joker as suddenly another ship appeared on sensors. Like the others it appeared near the strange object they had been studying, this ship was much larger but designed in a similar way.

"Scanning." reported EDI

"You are in trouble now, our Dreadnought has arrived." Said the Captain in what sounded like a smug voice. Joker looked at the information about this Dreadnought and almost shrugged at the size. The ship was about a 900 meters long which was equal to the size of a battleship or a carrier. Judging from the scans it had a lot of rail gun emplacements and what looked to beam turrets as well but the designs where different than anything the Tau'ri had seen. It didn't match anything in either the Ancient or Asgard database as well.

"Maybe a demonstration is in order." said the Captain as the Dreadnought fired a beam of blue white energy straight forward striking a different asteroid but turning it to dust anyhow. "That was our new Thanix main cannon and that ship is armed with multiple smaller Thanix cannons. You can't win, so why not make this easy for everyone and surrender."

"EDI." inquired Joker

"That beam is equal to our Asgard beam weapon at level 8 setting." said EDI

"And that was their main gun, right?" inquired Joker

"They claim it is." confirmed EDI

"Alright, then." said Joker with a grin.

 **Onboard the Turrian Cruiser the Captain waited, he had followed his plan perfectly.** Once this Normandy had made contact he knew he was dealing with a cloaked ship, the arrival of the Krogan DMZ dreadnought was pure luck but it helped him none the less. With the Dreadnought holding the Mass Relay and his ship over the Krogan home world this Normandy was trapped. He would have to surrender, and he would do it without firing any more shots. It was a text book move from the Turrian war college he had attended, he gave his enemy no choice but to surrender and as such he would win with as little bloodshed as possible.

"Enemy ship spotted." reported the weapon's officer as the display screen changed to show the strange ship moving toward an asteroid about the size of the one they had just destroyed. At first he didn't understand, then a glow of blue light gathered under the ship. It was a different shade of blue but when it shot forward hit the asteroid it was the same effect as the main cannon on the dreadnought. The asteroid turned to dust and with a shimmer the Normandy disappeared again.

"They have a Thanix cannon on that ship and one equal to our dreadnought that is impossible for a ship of that side." said the second in command.

"And yet it is." Stated the Captain, the situation had just changed and to in way he had planned it. "We are going to need more ships."

 **Down on the surface Sheppard instinctively raised his hand to cover his face against the sand storm which whipped around him, even though he was protected by a layer of micro weaved Naquadah bullet proof suit with heavier and stronger plates covering key points.** It protected his body from the storm which was growing ever stronger and intensive. He was cursing to himself when his life sign detector went off. Reacting on instinct he bent down and pulled out a combat knife from his belt and his pistol. With this storm he could hardly see and his pistol and his knife would be more use right now in close quarter combat then his rifle. He moved toward the life sign ready for a fight only to stop in his tracks when more life signs appeared within range, far too many for him to take on alone in a close quarter fight.

"Sheppard do you read me?" inquired EDI's voice over this radio.

"I hear you." confirmed Sheppard

"We just got a possible translation program for the local people and we are sending it to your suit now. It worked with the people in orbit but they are demanding to search our ship. We are remaining cloaked and waiting for wind to pick you up." reported EDI as a small download bar appeared in the upper right hand corner of this helmet's heads up display. It was a quick download and as he did he took cover behind what seamed to be a fallen pillar of some kind.

"How Can you see in this storm!" yelled a voice as the life signs came within a few feet of him, there was nine of them within 15 feet of him.

"Even for us Vakarian this is bad weather." stated a deep voice

"Best to get underground and use the tunnels." Stated another deep voice

"Liara, Samara do you think you can force the wind back, like the seekers in the collector base?" inquired the first voice, Vakarian.

"Worth a try." said a female voice which was closer to him then the two deep voices and Vakarian. Suddenly a wave of blue energy shot past him and like that the howling wind was gone. It was as if he had stepped out into a calm day. Sheppard scanned the area with his eyes without moving his head. Judging from what he could see he was inside a doom of some kind of blue energy. On the other side of that doom he could see the storm raging.

"Good work." said another female voice, this one sounded like it was coming through a filter.

"Not as hard as keeping the seekers back." Stated a third female voice, this one older sounding.

"The spire is that way." Said the first deep voice, as Sheppard held his breath. He could just remain in cover and let this group pass, but then the doom began moving forward as the group came ever closer to him. Within moment they would be on him. He looked toward where a nearby pillar was still standing. The fallen one he was taking cover behind butted up to it forming an L shape. He also had the element of surprise. With the deep breath he put his pistol and knife away and grabbed his rifle off his back. With a burst of speed he broke cover slightly and spun around raising his rifle to his shoulder as he took cover behind the pillar. The group had been approaching him stopped and for a second they just looked at each other.

In the lead was an alien which seamed at first glance to be a type of armored bird dressed in blue armor, he held a strange looking rifle in his hand and what looked to be blue visor over one eye. On one side of him where two of the giant looking aliens they had fought in tunnels. Both of them raised what looked to be some kind of shotgun. Behind them was a blue skinned woman dressed in red armor, there was no weapon in her hand but those hands where glowing blue, the same blue as the doom. Another younger looking blue skinned woman in white was on the opposite side of the group her hands also covered in blue energy. In front her was a group of three figures. One looked to be three figures, one of them was a tall looking alien with big eyes, beside him was a woman looking figure in a space suit of some kind, both of them raised weapon at him. The last member of their group on their front looked to his eyes at least to be a female version of the bird like alien with a rifle pointed at him. Behind them where two more figures, one a lizard looking alien holding what looked to be a sniper rifle and beside him was a robot holding another sniper rifle of his own. Just when he thought 9 against one was bad, they threw in a 10th, the robot hadn't appeared on his scanners. His advantage was that he was behind cover and those in front of him where in the open with cover a good few feet away, if he had too he would drop a few of them. Starting with one of the blue skinned women, they seamed to be holding back the storm with some kind of energy, with them gone the shield would fall and he would get the storm for cover as he pulled back.

For the longest time no one spoke everyone just looked at him and he looked at them, his eyes locked on the one in the middle, the one bird like alien in blue. He likely couldn't see him that his eyes where locked on his through the tinted visor but maybe he could. Slowly ever so slowly he lowered his weapon slightly from a fire position until the barrel pointed toward the ground but he could snap it up and fire in a heartbeat. The one bird alien in the center seamed to understand and lowered his own weapon.

"Everyone lower your weapon." ordered the alien and slowly everyone lowered their weapons but remained in a ready position. He then raised one of his hands palm outwards to show he meant no harm. "You don't understand me but we just want to talk. Mordin, get a translation program ready."

"I understand you." answered Sheppard "I am Major Torren Sheppard Tau'ri Marine Force, who are you?"

"Garrus Vakarian and this is my team." Introduced Garrus "How did you get a translation program?"

"One of our other ships made contact with the leader of a place called Omega and they got the program from her." Explained Sheppard

"Aria." said the female bird like creature with anger in her voice.

"Nyreen, calm down." ordered the younger of the blue skinned woman who was still keeping the storm back with the blue energy.

"So what are we going to do here? You are trespassing on Tuchanka but you had no idea what you where doing did you." Laughed one of the larger aliens. "We are the first aliens you have ever seen, no wonder your on edge."

Before he could answer a shot bounced off column beside Sheppard, followed seconds later by more shots striking nearby. Sheppard dove behind cover and raised his rifle and took aim at the nearest of the blue woman holding the barrier. However they where looking away from and already taking cover. Coming out of the storm was more of those massive aliens but these where firing not just at him but at the group of 10 in front of him. He looked behind him, he could make a run for the spire and leave these people behind or he could stand and fight without knowing who he was fighting for and who he was fighting against.

Garrus was cursing himself as he took cover from the fire coming in from the Krogans and Vorchas shooting at them from the edge of the storm. With Liara and Samara holding back the storm they where couldn't strike back with their powerful biotic attacks and worse was they couldn't really defend themselves without breaking the barrier.

"Take them down!" ordered Garrus as he raised his rifle and took aim at one of the Krogans in their blood red armor. Before he pulled the trigger he saw out of the corner of his eye a Krogan charging out of the storm in toward where Liara was taking cover behind a stone pillar. She was defenseless holding up the barrier and worse was she was looking the other way from the charging Krogan. He turned toward Liara but he didn't have a shot, if he shot he would hit Liara. Then out of nowhere multiple rounds began to hit the charging Krogan. It didn't make sense, everyone had moved forward to take on the blood pack so who was firing from behind them. The Krogan took a few stumbling steps but still remained standing and that was when Liara noticed him. She turned when he was within arms reach of her only to see another figure slam into the Krogan's side. The already weakened and unstable Krogan was fell to the ground with the alien they had just meet on top of him. He jumped back and took cover beside Liara sharing the pillar for cover before he joined in firing at the blood pack.

"Thanks." said Liara as the figure took cover beside her and dropped an empty magazine and loaded another one. She watched it for a moment, the rounds he was firing was much larger then the rounds in their weapons but yet the rounds had dropped a charging Krogan. She let out sad laugh and decided to look at the brighter side. "Not the way a first contact is suppose to go."

"No problem." said this Sheppard as his rifle charged the first round, then he too gave a sad chuckle. "The Goa'uld, the Wraith, the Colonials, people shooting at us during a first contact, might as well be a Tau'ri tradition. Why break the habit it now?"

 **Well I hope you liked this chapter and the first contact I have between Sheppard and the Mass Effect galaxy. I would like to thank everyone who reviewed and I ask that you keep reading. Thanks Wilkins75.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5 Contact Part 3**

Major Torren Sheppard loaded a fresh magazine into his rifle and waited the few seconds for the first round to be chambered. Once done he aimed the rifle over the edge of his cover, the camera built into the gun giving him a view of the battle. All around him the group of aliens he was now working with where firing back at another group of aliens. The second group seamed to be made out of two different kinds of aliens, one was the large giant alien he had been running into all day and the second kind looked like little mini devils.

"What are the second aliens?" inquired Torren to the other alien, the younger looking blue skinned woman taking cover beside him.

"Can you describe them?" inquired the woman as Sheppard moved his hand slightly to show the small screen built into his armor. With a push of button built into the side of his gun he captured a still photo of one of the aliens and sent it to his computer. The image appeared as the woman looked at it. "Vorcha, violent people who are extremely hard to kill. Judging from the armor and the armor of the Krogan you took down, they are blood pack members."

"Let me guess a terrorist group or a mercenary group?" inquired Sheppard

"Mercenary mostly but they take jobs form anyone including slavers and terrorist groups." Stated the woman. "By the way, I am Liara T'Soni and thanks again for stopping that Krogan."

"Torren Sheppard." Introduced Torren again as he took aim at a nearby Vorcha, he pulled the trigger as a five round burst went down range. Each one hit the Vorcha either in the chest or upper shoulder blade area. The Vorcha shimmered a bit as a shield dropped and then when Torren fired another burst and the bullets hit the same spots there was nothing to protect it. The high moving Naquadah tipped rounds ripped into the alien and just to make it even better the rounds that where going down range where not solid. No instead a micro amount of high explosive was in them and the combine impact caused the entire upper half of the Vorcha to explode into a shower of meat and flesh.

"I am going to advance forward will you be ok here?" inquired Torren

"Yes, we have been in worse fights before." Stated Liara as Torren nodded his head and moved out from behind cover and advanced to another firing position. As he did a round from one of the blood pack members stroke the armored Greave that wrapped around his entire leg. The round stroke and bounced off as he slide to cover beside a lizard looking alien with a sniper rifle.

"You were lucky." stated the lizard man who seamed to be wearing some kind of black leather jacket instead of armor. "To move without barriers in a fight like this is risky and should only be done when there was no other choose."

"Well if that is the case then I wouldn't be moving." stated Torren as he leaned to the side and fired another burst from his railgun, this time he wasn't sure if he hit his target but the Krogan did duck down. "My armor doesn't have shields."

That seamed to take the alien back by the news.

"No barriers then you are either a fool or a brave fool." laughed one of the giant aliens, that was when Torren leaned out from cover and with another five round burst blew the head of another Vorcha. "Ok, I like that gun."

"You like any gun Grunt." said a Vakarian as he took cover across a small gap from Sheppard, this Grunt and the Lizard guy. "Thane, can you lift the four over there?"

The lizard guy, Thane looked toward where Vakarian was pointing with his three figured hands and nodded his head. A sudden glow of blue energy which gathered around him before shooting out and hitting a group of aliens hiding behind cover. To Sheppard's confusion the band of three Vorchas and one of the giant aliens where lifted out of cover and began to twist around in the air. The two giant aliens which were on their side broke cover and fired at the floating targets with their shotguns as if they were duck hunting.

"This is fun." Laughed Grunt as the gunfire stopped and for a moment no one moved and then suddenly out of the storm something similar to a missile hit a nearby pillar causing it to fall toward what seamed to be a female in a black spacesuit with purple highlights. The 8 ft tall pillar began to fall toward her.

"TALI!" yelled Vakarian as he broke cover to head toward her only to be hit by round from what had to be a type of machine gun hitting him and forcing him back. Sheppard had a clear path and he took it, he got under the pillar just in time, dropping his rifle he caught the massive pillar. Without his armor on the stone pillar would have crushed him like a bug even with the power armor improving his strength he could just stop it from falling and with a grunt he forced it land away from this Tali person.

"You alright." said Sheppard

"Yes, thanks you seam to be saving everyone." said Tali as she spotted a Vorcha taking aim at this Sheppard with a sniper rifle. The Vorcha was behind him and his gun was on the ground, it was also out of range for her weapon, but she had another idea. Her Omni tool glowed as she sent out a drone just in time as it took the sniper bullet for them.

Sheppard for his part rolled forward grabbing his rifle and coming back up on one knee took aim, but the sniper had been dropped by their robot. A few more rounds where fired and a figure holding what looked somewhat like a missile launcher was dropped before the guns fell silent again. Sheppard scanned the area, but the storm limited his view beyond the barrier and his life sign detector went only five yards past that line.

"Vakarian I do not detect anyone else." Said a computer like voice as Sheppard looked at this strange band's robot, it seamed to be about human size and general set up only instead of a face whit the traditional mouth and eyes a single glowing eye was visible.

"I don't have anything on scanners either, but the storm is limiting the range." confirmed the female in the suit as slowly everyone began to stand up. Only then did Sheppard really take in where he was, he was now surrounded on all sides by this band of aliens and two of them where right behind him. He was trapped and if they turned on him he would go down fighting, but he would go down. Slowly he got up from cover and checked his ammo it was still good.

"Thanks for your help." said Vakarian as he offered his three fingered hand toward Major Sheppard. "It means a lot that you helped and that you saved two of my team."

"No problem." said Sheppard as he stood up and got his first up close look at the leader of this group, this Vakarian. He did have a sort of armored bird like face with a kind of fin or horn like structure coming out of the back of his head. His mouth seamed to be slit into four parts, two side plates and front and bottom part. "Liara said this blood pack is a mercenary group why are they after you?"

"We have a habit of making people very upset and we have crossed paths with them multiple times doing so." Explained Garrus

"Sounds like what SG1 or my dad's team used to do." said Sheppard as the Aliens all looked at him not fully understanding. Sheppard shook his head at his stupid comment, there was no way they would know about two teams from multiple galaxies away. "Sorry, I am Major Torren Sheppard Tau'ri Marine Core."

"Garrus Vakarian Council Spectre and this is my team." Said Garrus "So what brings you to lovely Tuchanka?"

"Well not really that lovely, but when my ship arrived in orbit we detected the spire over there along with what we believed to be a fuel station in orbit as well." explained Sheppard "Also an object we had never seen before, it kind of looks like a gun but with a spinning…"

"You never seen a mass relay before?" inquired Liara as she and a handful of others moved forward.

"Mass Relay?" inquired Sheppard

"No wonder you don't have barriers you must be far behind the other species." laughed Grunt "His species must not be able to travel faster than light."

Sheppard rolled his eyes under his helmet but said nothing, there was no way they could know he had been in 3 different galaxies now.

"See there is a system of Mass Effect Relays spread out across the galaxy and they generated mass effect fields through Element Zero which lowers the mass of an object and therefore allows faster than light travel in corridors between different Relays." explained Liara "It is how we are able to travel the galaxy within minutes."

"Impressive." Said Sheppard as he thought about it for a few moments. A system like that would be faster between two fixed points then even their ZPM hyperdrive however it wouldn't give the freedom of movement they enjoyed. He had to find out if that was true. "So you have to travel between two relays correct and only Relays?"

"For the most part, ships can carry their own supply of Element Zero and make their own corridors but they can only carry so much so that is limiting." admitted Liara

"Element Zero, lowers the mass of objects correct?" inquired Sheppard as they nodded his head. "Sounds like Zephry."

"Zephry?" inquired Mordin

"It is the rarest element from where I am from, only one planet has it and we use it as part in making in a special power source we call ZPMs." Explained Sheppard "Maybe Element Zero is what we call Zephry."

"Possible. The traits seam to match and no other element lowers atomic mass." stated Mordin "And there is a theory that if Element Zero was combined with a large amount of Kilino then you would get a large power source like you describe. It has yet to be attempted because Kilino is so expensive and the largest known sources are the Citadel itself and the Mass Relays."

"Kilino you say." inquired Sheppard "Do you have the ability to scan for this element?"

"With ease." stated Mordin

"Scan my armor." ordered Sheppard as Mordin blinked before turning to Garrus who nodded his head. "Very well."

With that a glowing ring appeared around his hand and lower arm, he waved it around his breast plate only to stop when the thing started beeping. He looked at a small holographic screen which popped up, before scanning everything again.

"I don't believe it; your armor has a large percentage of Kilino in its construction." stated Mordin as Sheppard nodded his head.

"I thought so, we call it Naquadah and it is common where I am from. We use it in for armor, as a power source and a lot of other stuff." Said Sheppard before laughing a little as he looked at his gun. "Each round I fired in this fight was tipped with Naquadah, gives it an extra punch."

"How hard is this Kilino?" inquired Grunt

"It is the same stuff that the Mass Relays are made out of but the layer around a mass relay is believed to be several meters thick and protected by strong barriers. Given what we know about Kilino or Naquadah his armor would be similar in strength to a shield plus our normal armor." stated Mordin as he turned his attention back to the Torren. "And your saying this stuff is common?"

"Backbone of a lot of our technology." admitted Sheppard "Judging from what you have told me, Element Zero is the backbone of your technology."

"That is correct." confirmed Liara as suddenly Sheppard's head snapped away from her and toward the storm.

As Sheppard looked at his head's up display lite up as another life sign appeared on this sensors. His head snapped toward the location only to see one of those thin almost devil looking aliens come out of the storm with a rifle in hand. He was aiming right at Victorian who had yet to see him. He shoved him back as the alien fired, the rounds missed Victorian but hit him instead. He felt no pain at first as it hit an already weakened armored plate and punched through. He instead spun around and raised his pistol with one hand and emptied the clip toward the alien. He didn't know if it was his own rounds which hit or the others who now seeing him tore him apart with gunfire.

For a moment after the shooting was done that was when the pain hit him and he dropped his pistol and grabbed his soldier. Bright red blood was already leaking out from his shoulder and running down his armor.

"Thanks Sheppard." Said Vakarian as he got back up from the ground and noticed the blood running down Sheppard's arm. "Mordin!"

"Lay back." ordered Liara as she came to his side, her hands still covered with blue energy. Sheppard obeyed lying backwards against a pillar.

"Son of a bitch." cursed Sheppard as the large eyed alien rushed forward.

"Oh…this is not good." said the alien as he looked at the wound.

"Mordin, we have seen worse." Countered Liara

"Yes, of course but I have no medical knowledge of the Tau'ri." Explained Mordin "I could kill him if I try to heal him. What if medi-gel is deadly to the Tau'ri. No…too much of a risk."

"On my belt…medical supplies" said Sheppard as he moved his hand away only for the blood flow to increase. Before he could put it back, Laira placed her own hand on the wound. The lack of power she was providing caused the doom holding back to storm to shrink a bit. "Thanks."

With an effort he pulled a small silver bag about the size of a coffee sugar packet out of a compartment on his belt. He placed it on his chest before reaching up and hitting the side of his helmet. Instantly the visor pulled back along with the bottom half around his face until he wore something similar to a normal helmet. The aliens looked at him, studying him as he grabbed the packet again and using his teeth ripped it open. A metal taste filled his mouth but that wouldn't kill him.

"Please remove your hand." Said Torren but they looked at each other. "Crap, I never gave them a translation program. They can't understand me."

With pain he pulled Laira's hand back, she fought it at first.

"No…pull back that must be something to stop the bleeding and he can't put it on with you in the way." Said Mordin as Laira pulled back her blue hand covered with red blood.

"Here." Said Victorian as he took the pouch and poured the silver poured on. At once the bleeding stood and while the pain was still there it was dull and manageable.

With his hand now free he reached back to his helmet and pushed the button. Instantly the visor came back down.

"Thanks." said Torren "That should be stop the bleeding for two hours or so, won't do anything if I broke my collar bone but that can be healed with ease back on my ship."

"If I may inquire what was that powder?" inquired Mordin with curiosity in his voice.

"Medical Nano bots…" started Sheppard as Mordin raised one of his fingers up.

"Ah…I see yes that would be a useful tech to use for battlefield medicine. Pour powder on the wound and it stops the bleeding and judging from the time frame I assume these robots have a life span and can't replicate." stated Mordin

"They can replicate but only for a short time and then they die." explained Sheppard as he stood up and grabbed his pistol shoving it into the holster. "If you want to talk medical stuff, talk to Sam she would know more than me. I am a Marine she is the doctor."

"You showed much bravery, it does you honor." said the older blue skinned woman.

"Sorry, I never got your name." said Sheppard

"I am Samara." Introduced the woman. "Liara and I are Asari."

"Major Torren Sheppard." Said Torren as he coughed a little. "Sorry, I am human from the Tau'ri Alliance."

"Human." said Mordin "Never heard of your kind before."

"Not that surprising, never saw your kind before either." explained Torren as he looked down at his wrist mounted computer pad. He tapped a few commands and looked up. "I am sending a translation program to you, can your glowing arm computer take information wireless?"

"With ease." confirmed Mordin as his began to glow. "I got it. Checking for viruses and other computing issues…clear…sending it out now."

All of the others began to glow as their wrist mounted computers began to glow. Sheppard decided to test it by hitting the side button of his helmet again. He could smell the air and hear the howling wind, the wind moved some of his light brown hair. Some people who didn't know his family history said he looked like his father, John Sheppard, that always pissed him off when he was younger since John was his stepfather. Here none of them had ever heard of General Sheppard.

"Can you understand me?" inquired Sheppard

"We can, can you understand us?" inquired Garrus the ear piece translating this human's words.

"Yes." Said Torren as he reached for a container on his side and pulled out a canteen full of water. His suit had a camel pack which contained water as well but he liked to drink this way not through a straw. "We do have some issues, there are some of your ships blockading this world and my ship can't come in and pick us up while they are there."

"I'll handle it, as a Council Spectre I can clear this up." said Garrus as his arm began to glow. "This is Spectre Victorian calling Krogan DMZ fleet what is the current situation?"

"Spectre Victorian we are blockading the position above you and have a dreadnought holding the Relay." Reported a voice back "There is an unknown ship claiming to be from some group called the Tau'ri and they have a ground team as well. We aren't sure how but the unknown ship has a cloaking system that is hiding it from all our sensors including visually. It also as a Thanix cannon equal to the ones on our dreadnought."

"I know, I have made contact with one of them and fought beside them against a blood pack attack." Stated Garrus "He may have saved my life from a sniper but got hit in the process."

"Joker, EDI to you copy me?" inquired Sheppard

"We read you Sheppard." Said EDI's voice over the same channel. "We heard everything."

"How did you get on this channel, this is a secure military communication channel." Stated the Turian Captain with anger in his voice.

"Stand down do not engaged, we are trying to work something out." Said Sheppard "And get Sam on the line, I took a round to the shoulder."

"Understood, do you require medical evacuation?" inquired EDI

"I should be good for the moment." Explained Sheppard

"No, Captain I am giving special clearance for a the Tau'ri ship to come in for a medical pick up." ordered Garrus

"The winds are too strong for a shuttle craft to land for a pick up." countered Liara

"I can bring our ship in for a pick up." Offered Joker "But that would require me to decloak the ship and open the ship up to fire."

"Under Citadel Council Orders you are not allowed to go or leave Tuchanka without having an inspection." Stated the Captain "I have my orders and I will follow them."

"Maybe a middle ground can be reached, we will bring the Normandy in for a pick up and travel to a different part of the world away from this storm. We will stay there until you contact your Council and let them decide if they want to enforce that law during the first contact?" inquired Sheppard

"My team and I will go with them and wait for the Council to make up their mind and we can monitor to make sure no weapons are traded." Offered Garrus

"I can agree to that." said Sheppard

"Very well." Stated the Turian Commander "Only because you're a Spectre."

"Joker we have an agreement." Said Sheppard "Bring the Normandy in for a pick up."

"Alright de-cloaking now." Reported Joker as the Normandy decloaked within five kilometers of the Turian cruisers. The sudden appearance of a warship directly above and behind them in a position where the bulk of their weapons couldn't touch them but yet they were position to take fire from the enemy caused the crews to jump. Instead of firing the Normandy dove down and dove toward the planet by doing a barrel roll over the side of the cruisers on its way down into the storm.

"Ash do you hear all that?" inquired Sheppard over the radio.

"I did, are you sure about this Sheppard?" inquired Ash as he took a deep breath which hurt a little.

"Well we will find out soon enough." Said Sheppard "Just get ready for a pick up."

"We will be ready." Confirmed Ash as the line was broken.

"It shouldn't take long for the Normandy to arrive." Reported Torren, even so the arrival of the Normandy surprised everyone. The raging storm covered both the sound of the Normandy's engines and the sand hid it from sight until it was on top of them.

"Extending shields." Reported Joker as the shield bubble around the Normandy extended out, as it extended out the overall strength of the shield weakened but it was enough to lower the force of the storm.

"That is a design I have not seen before." Admitted Garrus as he studied the strange ship lowering itself down. "Tali, you're an expert on ships do you recognize the design."

"No." admitted Tali. "It is unlike any design I have seen, looks like it is designed for speed and if this cloak is as good as it seems it would be a great ship for special forces strike teams. The engines should different and those mass accelerated cannon emplacements are small for ship to ship combat."

"Those rail guns are designed for anti-air our main weapon is a beam system. As for the stealth, your right on it is designed for." confirmed Sheppard as the Normandy lowered the front ramp slowing the cargo bay. It wasn't big bay and it was dominated by a black shuttle craft which was large by their standards and an armored vehicle with a large gun located on top. A group of marines dressed in somewhat different armor then Sheppard stood at the edge of the ramp with weapons in hand but not raised. Standing in the middle was a figure in similar armor to Sheppard only it was white and red. The Figure had no weapon out but had a pistol and what looked to be a carbine attached to the armor. The figure rushed forward toward Sheppard. The closer the figure got the better view they got, it had red crosses on each arm and another one on the front on the upper side of the chest and another near the top of the visor.

"I got you Sheppard." Said the figure as it moved to one side and helped support him.

"Thanks, Sam." Said Sheppard

"Right now Torren, I am Dr. O'Neill and you will do what I say." ordered the doctor as they moved forward. At first Garrus and his team stayed back a bit, but a hand movement from Sheppard waved them forward. They moved toward the strange ship and stepped onto the ramp, the Tau'ri marines eyed them but made no move to stop them from going deeper into the ship. Garrus did stop at the forward nose of the strange black shuttle craft. He didn't want to push his luck, but Mordin did.

"Excuses me, Dr. O'Neill." Inquired the Salarian Doctor. "I am a Doctor as well, I would like to observer how you treat the wound and to discuss with you if our medical technology could of healed him."

"Alright but disarm first." ordered Sam as Mordin nodded his head and gave his weapons to Grunt who simple shrugged at the weapons. The Normandy was moving as it lifted back up into the air and moved toward the spire. Once the shield forced the storm back a small hatch opened on the roof above the control room. It was a tiny landing designed as a staging area for caretaker crews who had to climb a very tall ladder built into the spire to the very top. Still it worked for the Tau'ri as one by one more figures came out of the top and moved toward the Normandy's ramp.

"Whoever is piloting this is very good." Stated Tali as the distance between the spire and the ramp of the Normandy remained only a few inches a foot at most apart. Once everyone and their pieces of equipment where onboard the ramp closed, and the Normandy moved away.

"Do they know where they going?" inquired Garrus

"I was about to ask for directions." inquired a voice from behind them as Garrus and the others all but jumped as they saw what they thought to be their first Tau'ri without their armor on. At a quick glace they assumed by the structure it was a female, with red hair and deep green eyes. Her skin gave off a slight glow which was the first warning sign that maybe this wasn't a real human but instead a projection. The second sign was that she was speaking in their language and had no visible ear bud which would translate their speak.

"You're a hologram, aren't you?" inquired Garrus

"Among other things. My name is EDI, I am the Normandy's AI system." greeted EDI as Tali, Garrus and the other Citadel council race members tensed up a bit.

"If I can inquire how common is AI among the Tau'ri?" inquired Tali.

"Common enough." answered EDI "Can you give me the location of a place we can wait for your council to make up their mind?"

"Yes, here go here." Stated Wrex as he gave broadcast the coordinates back to his clan home over his own omi-tool. Edi got the data and sent it back to the navigation computer. The Normandy headed toward the coordinates all while being watch by the Turian Cruisers in orbit.

Meanwhile in Omega an empty bottle of fine brandy and an empty bottle of Russian Vodka sat on a small table between Colonel Drugo of the Tau'ri Alliance and Aria the leader of Omega.

"25 to 30 galaxies away?" inquired Aria again as Drugo nodded his head in conformation.

"Well to be somewhat honest galaxies are not evenly spaced out and some of them are closer together then others." Explained Drugo "If I remember correctly the void between some of the galaxies where two to three times the distance between Milky Way Galaxy where we are from and the Pegasus Galaxy where we have some of our worlds."

"I see." said Aria "And why are you here?"

"We are here to finish what the Ancients started." explained Drugo as Aria leaned back a bit. "The Ancients where as far as we know the most advanced civilization ever, they explored multiple galaxies and seeded life everywhere they went. One of their missions was launching a ship called Destiny and for over a million years this ship has traveled at FTL speed toward the very center of the universe. The ship can't finish it's mission so we are going to launch another one."

"Really? You are here to launch a ship?" inquired Aria not really believing someone would travel that many galaxies to launch a ship.

"In a way, we are going create a Super Gate to using the power of a black hole to create a wormhole between this galaxy and another Super Gate that the ancients constructed near where Destiny is now." Explained Drugo "once the gate is constructed we will be able to send our new ship to replace the Destiny."

"You are going to take power from a black hole?" inquired Aria not fully believing it.

"Yes, we are." Confirmed Drugo "I am sure once we do that, we will establish trade links with this galaxy."

The idea of trade with a galaxy full of Naquadah and other markets caused a smile to cross her face.

"And where do you plan to put this Super Gate?" inquired Aria

"There is a group of six small black holes a few light years away from here." stated Drugo as the smile on Aria's face only grew. She not only knew the place, but a nearby system was a favorite place to store extra element zero whenever the market was bad. She also had a few extra supplies there as well incase she needed it. "By that smile, I have a feeling you know the place?"

'I do, no one had claim over that reign of space however that nearby system your talking about is somewhat under my control." Admitted Aria as took another drink of Brandy. "But I will be more then willing to make a deal to lease it your people."

"That is above my pay grade." Admitted Drugo as he took another drink, he studied this woman an Asari they called themselves. He wasn't sure how well the race as a whole handled drinks but she was putting them back as much as he was and he lived up to the stereotype of a hard drinking Russian.

"Aria, I have the data you wanted." Said the Salarian as he moved forward carrying a very large brief case, he laid it on the table. With skill he opened the lid and spun it to face his boss and Drugo. It looked filled to the brim with small flash drive like objects. "I downloaded the entire records from the Omega Library which contains all the basic information about the galaxy as well as getting all the news broadcasts and…."

"And I am sure you did a good enough job." said Aria as she turned to look Drugo

"I did include a couple of Omni tools and Data pads so that you can read the information." Said the Salarian as he went on to show how someone could put the flash drive like object into what looked to be a kind of holographic Ipad with the only solid looking bits being around the edges which folded together.

"Now that is one part of my side of our deal." stated Aria as she watched Drugo pull out a small object from a compartment built into the side of his forearm armor. He placed the object which looked like a data card to anyone not Tau'ri on top of the case full of data pads. He pressed down on the center and pulled his hand back as gave off a slight blue light and a beeping sound. The guards were about to act when before everyone eyes the whole case disappeared in a flash of bright white light.

"What was that?" inquired the Salarian

"You have teleportation technology." stated Aria as he eyes narrowed a bit. "You can appear anywhere on my station, can't you?"

"We can." admitted Drugo, it wasn't fully true if a ship had shields they could hold out a transport but so far Omega shields if they were up didn't seam able to do that "But we would kind of stick out like a sore thumb, you have no other humans on this station."

Before Aria could press anymore Drugo lifted his hand to his ear, she could just see the dark outline of an earpiece sitting there.

"I understand sir, yes I will inquire, and will you please send over the first half our agreed price?" inquired Drugo before lowering his hand again. "Sorry, but question what are you mining here?"

"We are mining a lot of different ores but mostly Element Zero also called Eezo." answered Aria as a wide grin crossed her face, she thought she could see where this was going. "Let me guess you have never seen this element before?"

"No, we know it a Zephry but the amount here is by far the largest despot we have ever seen." admitted Drugo "Maybe a more long term deal can be reached however we do want a sample of Element Zero so that we can confirm that it is Zeprhy."

"Of course, however not before I get my part of our deal." stated Aria as suddenly another blinding light filled the room. When it was cleared two large metal plates sat on the floor, each one was 4 ft by 8 ft and was the same color as the smaller sample she had been given at the start of this business meeting.

"Here is the two of the five, you will get the rest once we get more samples." Said Drugo as Aria grinned, at the current market price she had just doubled her worth and the day wasn't even over yet.

 **It took only a few minutes for the Normandy to touch down on what seamed on the surface to be a mound of rubble of broken buildings**. In the distance they could see what looked to be a cut in the rubble where a couple of guards and what looked to be a blast door of some kind. As the landing gear extended and the ship's engines died down. The guards seamed to tense up a bit but when the ramp was lowered and Wrex stepped off followed by Grunt they relaxed a bit.

"Wrex does your broadcast system work?" inquired Garrus to his old friend.

"As long as the storm hasn't knocked it out it should." stated Wrex before looking over his friend's shoulder toward Tali. He chuckled to himself before going on. "If not then maybe your Quarian "friend" there can help."

Garrus shifted a bit but remained focus on Wrex instead of turning around to look at Tali who seemed to be studying the design of this Tau'ri ship, Normandy. Wrex laughed before singling his friend to follow him into the camp of his clan.

 **Onboard the Normandy Mordin watched with extremely interest as this Doctor O'Neill placed the wounded Sheppard on a bed.** O'Neill quickly began to undo the armor with skill and removing the under layer to show the bare skin of the soldier. She moved to the front of the bed above his head and within seconds a holographic image of the body, it was extremely detailed showing everything exempt the groin area which was blacked out.

"You are lucky, it only hit muscle." reported Dr. O'Neill "Should be a simple fix."

With that she moved to a side table and picked up a small device about the size of his palm, she picked up the device with a blue crystal in the center of it and slipped it over her own palm. As she moved back toward Sheppard she shook her head.

"Torren…Torren what am I going to do with you?" inquired O'Neill "You keep getting in trouble and I have to get you out."

"Your used to it Sam." Laughed Torren as O'Neill slapped him playfully on the top of his head, before moving her head over the wound. Then before his eyes a glow of blue energy radiated down from the doctor's palm and before his eyes the wound began to heal. Within a few minutes the wound was healed, and Torren was sitting back up and putting on his armor.

"Yes, I am." confirmed Sam before looking toward Mordin. "You seam to have some questions?"

"Yes, if I may inquire what was that device you used to heal his wound?" inquired Mordin

"Well we call it a crystal healing device for short, works by energizing the cells to promote cell growth." Explained Sam, the healing device had become very common with versions able to be picked at any major stores across Tau'ri space. She had a medical grade version which was based off the Ancient technology, since she like her father had a natural Ancient Gene it worked better then someone treated with gene therapy to get the ancient gene. "It is a basic tool in my kit."

"Thanks Sam." Said Sheppard as he finished dressing.

"No problem now go contact Admiral Hackett I am sure he will want to hear what you have to say." Ordered Sam as Sheppard nodded his head and walked out of the medical bay. With that done Dr. O'Neill turned her attention back to Mordin. "So you where going to ask something about using your technology to heal humans?"

"Yes, I was going to apply medi-gel to his wounds however I was concerned that it may have an effect on his body." Stated Mordin as he pulled out a small vile containing medi-gel. He handed it over as Sam studied the jelly like liquid for a moment before heading over to a scanner. She placed the vile down as two thin pillars rose up from the base and began to send out white light. She turned her attention to a nearby computer which began to give a read out of the medi-gel.

"So this stuff is a fast acting anesthetic and clotting agent?" inquired Sam

"Yes." Confirmed Mordin

"Looks like there is also some kind of electrical properties to allow neuron to keep firing across the gap?" inquired Sam as Mordin nodded again.

"Yes, we have even used it on synthetic beings to heal them up until repairs can be taken up back onboard ship." Explained Mordin "Synthetics are robots in case you didn't understand."

"I guessed as much." confirmed Sam as she ran a few simulations on her computer on this medi-gel. "Well on the surface everything looks good, nothing would happen to Sheppard if you had used it. Looks like it would do the same job as our medical nano bots, I don't see any harm that would have come if you had used it."

"Good, that is good." said Mordin as Sam picked up the Medi-gel and handed it back to Mordin. "If I may inquire you don't seem that amazed to see someone not of your race? I find that interest for a first contact."

Sam laughed a bit and shook her head.

"Well you aren't our first contact." explained Sam as Mordin focused on her. "We have made contact with a lot of different species and cultures, but I will leave that task to Torren or whoever else High Command wants to do it."

"I understand, I am sure the Council will have a lot to share with you and you will have a lot to share with the council." said Mordin as he placed his hand under his chin. "I am however worried about the timing."

"Why?" inquired Sam

"The galactic situation is not as peaceful as it seams on the surface." said Mordin "I will let Garrus explain more but a grave threat is coming, and we must all prepare."

 **Garrus for his part stood in what passed for a communication center for Clan Urdnot, it was bare stone walls with a communication system which looked like it could fall apart at any moment.** The ship and his team normally used was an STG ship and those where not welcomed on this planet, so he and his team had come in by shuttle. Still while it looked like it would fall apart within seconds the system worked and he soon found himself standing before three holographic images. One was a Turian like him but dressed in a fine set formal dress clothing. In the middle was an Asari dressed in red with a white stripe running down the center and, on the sleeves, while at the end was a Salarian male in a deep navy almost black robes with red and gold highlights.

"Spectro Victorian, what is the emergency that you required us at once?" inquired the Asari council woman, Tevos.

"Yes, we can't be summoned on a whim." added the Salarian Council man, Valern

"We due owe this man our lives." Countered the Turian member, Sparatus. "I believe sacrificing some time to answer is call is a minor sacrifice."

"True, what is it Spectre Vakarian." confirmed Tevos, the Asari as the first species to rediscover the Citadel was the head of the council of three.

"I am sorry to disturbed you but we have a first contact situation here on Tuchanka." Reported Garrus as that got all the members attention. "A ship called the Normandy arrived in orbit and they sent a team down to investigate the Spire. Let's just say some of the Krogans where not that welcoming. No Tau'ri deaths that I am aware of…"

"Tau'ri?" inquired Valern

"Yes, that is what they call themselves however their species is called human." Reported Garrus "One of their team members, Major Sheppard aided us in against a Blood Pack ambush and was wounded. His ship has landed on the surface and that is where another issue has come up. The ships of KMZ is saying they will force an inspection on the Normandy and that is unacceptable to the Tau'ri."

"Citadel law is Citadel law, they need to submit to inspection to make sure they are not smuggling weapons or arms to the Krogans." Stated Sparatus

"How can they smuggle weapons to the Krogans when they didn't even who or what the Krogans where until they started shooting at them." Countered Valern as Sparatus crossed his hands over his chest and glared at his fellow council member.

"I believe we should look the other way on this case." stated Tevos "This is a first contact we need to look the other way and understand that these Tau'ri didn't know our laws."

"Agreed." Said Valern

"Fine." Confirmed Sparatus

"Spectre Vakarian you will bring these Tau'ri to the Citadel so that we can formally introduce them to the wider galaxy." ordered Tevos

"I will, however I should report some other issues." said Garrus "The Tau'ri have another ship beside the Normandy at Omega and they are making some kind of deal with Aria."

"Making deals with criminals, I already don't like them." stated Sparatus

"That was how they got the translation program, I am not sure what else they are getting from Aria." Explained Garrus "However do we want to make a worse impression on a new race then a crime boss?"

"I will have an STG team look into that." added Valern "Is there anything else?"

"And, they don't use the mass effect relays to travel." added Garrus as the Council members looked at him. "From our limited contact we believe they must come from a region of space with only a small deposit of Element Zero and no relays. They had never seen it before."

"But they travel faster then light? How is that possible?" inquired Valern

"They use a mineral we call Kilino but they call Naquadah." explained Garrus as Valern's eyes widened at the news.

"Kilino is the rarest element in the universe, it is only found in large amounts in the mass effect relays and in some parts of the Citadel." Stated Valern

"From what we can gather it is the base of their technology like we base ours on Element Zero." explained Vakarian "There armor is made out of Kilino, they even fire it at their enemies."

"This could open up a whole new field of science and technology we have long theorized that combining a large amount of Kilino with Element Zero would create the largest power source we have seen outside of a mass effect relay." Stated Valern

"They may already have it, Sheppard mentioned a power source they had called a ZPM." Stated Valern "They called Element Zero Zephry. They also talked about other races they have meet and I have never heard of a Wraith or a Goa'uld. We may be looking at a whole lot of first contacts with a region of space which was closed to us."

"All the more reason to bring them to the Citadel." Stated Tevos "You are to invite the Tau'ri to come to the Citadel to make a formal first contact with the rest of the galaxy."

"I will extend the invite." confirmed Garrus "However do you want the Normandy to go to the Citadel or would a small team of Tau'ri on one of our ship be better?"

"A small team, we can't give away the location of the Citadel to an unknown force." stated Sparatus

"I wouldn't be surprised if Aria would sell them that information along with everything else they may want." Explained Valern "If they have Kilino, they have something to trade and Aria is a business woman first. We might as well have them bring their whole ship."

"Very well, extend the invite." ordered Tevos as the council members disappeared

 **Onboard the Normandy Sheppard was giving his report to Admiral Hackett, who also appeared in holographic form only his image was crisper, and cleaner given the fact that the Normandy's system was better then the mess the Krogans used.**

"Not the best first contact we ever had, but not the worse either." said Hackett as Sheppard finished giving his report. "We are still going through the data that the Josephus Daniels got from Omega and more will be coming soon."

"Sir, any news from the other recon ships?" inquired Sheppard knowing that other Normandy class ships had gone out to scout this galaxy.

"Nothing of note." Confirmed Hackett "Sheppard see if you can arrange to meet with this Citadel Council."

Sheppard's eyes widened a bit.

"Sir, shouldn't Doctor Jackson…" started Sheppard

"We are still hours away from moving and even more hours away from getting to that galaxy." Explained Hackett. "I am not asking you to be an ambassador only the first contact to start setting the ground work for Dr. Jackson's formal meeting."

"I understand Sir." Said Sheppard "I'll see if we can take the Normandy to this Citadel as soon as possible."

"No." stated Hackett "Wait for the Minnesota, onboard is Dr. Miranda Lawson. She is one of our best scientist, I want her to go with you to the Citadel. If you can take the Normandy all well and good but they may not want a strange warship to come to their capital. So pick a small team 3 to 4 members and go one on of theirs, we have the location of this Citadel already."

Sheppard nodded, doing it that way would be extremely risky. The team could be stabbed in the back however from SG1 to SGA-1 they had taken larger risks and come up on top.

"Good the Minnesota will arrive in just over 9 hours." said Hackett "I'll inform you if we find anything in the data, Hackett out."

 **With that the image disappeared and Sheppard left the communication center and headed down toward the cargo bay.** The ramp was down and while the marines guarding the ramp and fanned out around the Normandy seamed to be tense no one looked ready to shoot each other. Sitting and standing near the entrees down into what was likely some kind of camp or possibly sitting where the aliens he had fought beside only a short time ago. Even Mordin who had watched the Sam at working on healing had gone outside and seamed to be talking with his own teammates.

"How are you doing Ash?" inquired Sheppard as he stopped beside Ashley Williams who was still dressed for combat even though he had changed into his work uniform with the addition of a sidearm on his belt.

"Good enough, they don't seam to be doing anything more then taking a few photos of the Normandy. The one in the space suit…."

"Tali." remembered Sheppard

"Tali, has really been focusing on the engines she asked one of our guards how fast the Normandy could go." explained Ashley "The guard said he couldn't answer that."

"Well I word from Hackett we are to wait for the Minnesota and some Dr. Lawson before seeing if they will take us to meet their council." explained Sheppard to his long-time friend.

"Sounds like a plan." confirmed Ashley "How long do we have to wait?"

"Just over 9 hours." answered Sheppard as Ash rolled her eyes under her helmet. "I was thinking offering them a meal while we wait."

"Couldn't hurt, but you may want to check to make sure they can eat our food. We don't want to kill them at dinner." Offered Ash as Garrus came out of the underground and headed toward the Normandy. "Well might as well go talk to him."

Garrus for his part scanned the Normandy and spotted Sheppard walking down the ramp toward him. He turned and headed toward him and within moments the two of them stopped across from each other.

"The Citadel Council would like to extend to you an invite to the Citadel for a formal meeting." Offered Garrus as a smile crossed Sheppard's face.

"I was about to ask if you could escort either a small team or my ship to the Citadel to open communication between your government and our leaders." admitted Sheppard

"Well that was easily." said Garrus with a laugh "I'll inform the Council and then we can guild the Normandy to the Citadel."

"Well not so fast, I have been ordered to wait until another ship, the Minnesota arrives with one of our head scientists who will take part in the formal meeting." explained Sheppard "The ship should arrive in just over 9 hours."

"I see." said Garrus nodding his head. "Well I can't see how the Council could complain too much, it will actually give them more time to prepare a formal welcome."

"Good, in the mean time I would like to offer to feed your team." offered Sheppard as Garrus shifted a bit.

"Thanks for the offer, not sure if we can eat your food, Tali and I eat different type of food then the others but those who can would be more then happy too." confirmed Garrus

"Ok, say an hour." offered Sheppard as Garrus nodded his head in agreement.

 **Well I hope you liked this chapter and the start of the formal meeting between the Citadel and Tau'ri. For the slight delay, I actually hoped to have this chapter out a few days ago but I am making final arrangements for a vacation in early July which took longer then I planned. Either way I hope you enjoyed the Chapter.**

 **Wilkins75.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6 Dinner and Movement**

The Normandy sat in standby mode on the planet of Tuchanka, it's systems where scanning the Turian ships in orbit as well as the much larger Dreadnought which sat by the Mass Effect Relay. The shields could be raised within seconds and a nuclear warhead was on standby to be beamed up into orbit and this time it wouldn't be a safe distance away from those cruisers.

For his part Sheppard stood at the ramp in his work uniform, he wouldn't get into his dress uniform for something like this. If he read this Garrus correctly he wouldn't be concerned about something like that. In fact walking toward the Normandy was Garrus, Liara, Tali, Mordin, Wrex and female who he guessed to be a Turian as well. The rest of his team where staying back.

"Welcome onboard." Said Sheppard as the party of six walked up the ramp. "The rest of your team is welcomed as well."

"They wanted to stay back." Said the female Turian.

"In other words, they are your backup if something goes wrong." Stated Sheppard as Garrus chuckled a bit.

"He caught you Nyreen." Laughed Garrus as Nyreen glared at him, Wrex was laughing as well a deep laugh which sounded strange to the Tau'ri.

"That is fine, I understand." said Sheppard "Now would you like to follow me."

He led the party of six toward the elevator, thanking God and the team who designed the ship that the elevator was large. He knew it was to make moving missiles and supplies around the ship but it worked for moving the giant Krogan up to the main deck. When the elevator opened the two marines standing by it tensed up and one of their hands moved toward his side arm.

"Welcome to the main control center of the Normandy." said Sheppard as his alien guests looked at the line of computers on either side of the center walkway and at the end of the hallway where two more marines and a sealed door. Behind that door sat Joker, ready to take off at a moment's notice, along with Jacob who was second in command of the ship if something happened to him he would take command and two more marines. Another fully armed team sat in the armory waiting to be beamed to any location needed on the ship.

He lead them around the corner and back behind the bridge toward a formal briefing room and a larger war room. They passed by two more marines who eyed mostly the massive Krogan but said nothing. They entered the meeting room to find that the dark oak table covered with two folding tables on either end. Each of the tables had a table cloth over them and had multiple types of food and drinks available for the visiting aliens. Standing on the other side of the table was Ashley, Sam and EDI.

"Allow me to introduce Lieutenant Ashley Williams, Doctor Samantha O'Neill and EDI." Introduced Torren as each one of the women nodded their heads at their names.

"Allow me to introduce my team, this is Liara T'Soni, she is an Asari." started Garrus as he went to each of his team and introduced his team and their race.

"Feel free to have whatever food you want." Offered Sheppard as Wrex moved toward a plate full of fried chicken. Shoving Liara out of the way as he went.

"Wrex check to make sure you can eat it before you eat it." ordered Garrus as Wrex stopped before the table full of food. He ran his hand over it all as once again that glowing disk and arm protector of energy appeared around his hand. He moved it back and fourth a few times before a display appeared, he scanned it results and laughed.

"Everything here is fine for us, but none of it is Dextro." Laughed Wrex as Garrus, Tali and Nyreen seemed to let out a resigned sigh.

"Something wrong?" inquired Ash

"Let me guess you three require food based in dextro-amino acids not levo-amino acid base." Inquired Sam as even her Tau'ri members looked at her. "The Gadmeer are a dextro-amino species and they can't eat our food."

"Gadmeer? Which one are they?" inquired Ash as EDI waved her hand and in the center of the table a Holographic image of a lizard like alien, dressed in beautiful silver armor stood before everyone. It had a tear dropped shaped head and lip less mouth. It's five fingered hand and thin tail made it looked like a deadly predator.

"Ah…those, I keep forgetting about them." admitted Ash

"Understandable they don't often leave their world because they are sulfur based life and require a lot of protection to do it." Explained Sam. "They terraformed their new home world in 2000 and have pretty much kept to themselves."

"Sulfur based life, that is new to us." stated Mordin "Are they peaceful."

"For the most part, they will fight but in their history, they tend to settle conflicts among themselves with 17 on 17 duels and massive wars are extremely rare." explained EDI "17 is the holy number to them."

"Didn't they demand to be the 17th race to sign the treaty of Gaia?" inquired Torren more to his fellow Tau'ri than anyone else.

"Correct." Confirmed EDI as she turned her attention to the three. "Sorry but we don't have any food onboard which would likely fall into the category which would likely be safe for you to eat."

"That is fine, we are kind of use it." confirmed Garrus as Nyreen kept glaring like someone had insulted her in some way.

"Better for us, this is good." said Wrex as he took a whole bite of fried chicken biting through the bone and all.

"What is that?" inquired Liara as she pointed toward the table where a bowel of stew steamed over a mini hot plate. She moved toward it and grabbed a nearby bowl.

"I believe that is Maeun-tang it is hot and spicy." advised Torren as Liara took a bowl anyhow and poured a little amount before trying it. By the way she poured more of the Korean stew into the bowl she must have liked it. Mordin was drawn to more finger food and took small samples of food ranging from meatballs to tuna salad. For drinks most settled for water as Wrex pulled out his own drink of something that smelled like a cross between gasoline and strong rubbing alcohol. Garrus, Nyreen and Tali pulled out small packs which seemed to me field MRE and made food that they could have. It was quicker for the Tau'ri to get their own food and drinks as they sat across from each other there was still tension in the air.

"How did your council take the news of the delay?" inquired Sheppard

"Overall they understood it and in one case really liked it." explained Garrus "Gives time for the Citadel to prepare and to get ambassadors from other races to the meeting."

"Ambassadors?" inquired Ash "So not every race is a member of your council?"

"No, only three are." explained Nyraan "The three most powerful races, the Asari, the Salarians and the Turian."

"Other species have been offered spots on the council in the past but some turn them down preferring to remain at the Embassy level." Explained Liara "The Hanar turned it down because they didn't want some of the duties that would be required if they went up. Same of the Elcore, the Drell are client race to the Hanar and trust them to represent them and same goes for the Volus but with the Turians instead of the Hanar."

"And since you didn't mention a race called Vorcha I assume some races aren't even on this embassy level?" inquired Sheppard

"Only a handful." Explained Liara "The Vorcha don't even have space travel, they where picked up by bands who want to use their violent nature for whatever goals they may want. Three races had embassies and lost them."

"One was mine, after we went to war and almost beat the crap out of you all by ourselves." Stated Wrex as he bit into his chicken.

"One was my race, the Quarians." added Tali "See my people created the Geth, robots to help us with our daily tasks and…."

"And they rebelled?" inquired Sam as Tali nodded her head. "They forced us off our own world, we no live in a migrant fleet of ships. Our entire people minus some out on their pilgrimage out of the fleet in a few ships."

"Why not settle on a new world?" inquired Ash

"We require very unique world, that is why I have to wear this suit at all time." explained Tali touching her suit. "A single break in the suit could lead to a deadly infection, even on our own fleet we wear these suits."

"I see, and the council didn't help?" inquired Torren as Tali shook her head.

"No, they didn't want to go to war with the Geth and some believed this was the punishment we deserved for messing with robots. So they stripped us of our embassy." Explained Tali as she looked toward EDI. "If you are an AI, you are illegal in Citadel space, I wouldn't bring it up."

"Her." countered Torren "See we saw a similar example to what happened with a group called the 12 colonies of Kobol and their Cylons. They didn't lose their worlds but still the example is clear."

"Also, a lot of movies and books about AI fighting humans meant we focused on that when the time come." added Ash as Torren nodded his head.

"As such when we made AI, we passed laws AIs are considered full members of the Tau'ri. They have every civil rights we have. EDI gets paid like anyone else, she has a rank and free will. If she does a crime she will face the law just like everyone else and they vote in elections." Explained Torren

"I even pay taxes and health benefits but I don't get that until my tour of duty is done." added EDI as Liara raised an eyebrow. "See like all AI, I serve a tour of duty in the military and once that is done I can reenlist or my brain can be downloaded into a clone human body of my own design and live my rest of my life as a human."

"I see." said Mordin "That is a unique system, but I am not sure how the council will react to that."

"If I may inquire Mordin said to Sam about the Galaxy not being as peaceful as it seems?" inquired EDI "We have gone through some of the data given to use by Aria and the galaxy seams for the most part stable. There is criminal elements and rogue groups like these Geth and the fracture that happened when the Batarians split from your council after settlement issues. Overall it seams stable compared to what we have seen."

"And what have you seen?" inquired Liara

"A lot of civil wars, after the fall of the Goa'uld and the ORI it has lead to a lot of civil wars." Explained Sheppard as the Aliens from across the table from him looked at him confused. "Alright, in short about 10,000 years ago a parasitic race discovered Earth the home world of humanity. Humans where stone age people and they used their advance technology to take up the roll of Gods. The took populations of humans off world to use as slaves and turning some into their warrior class called Jaffa. Around 5,000 ago humans of Earth rebelled and drove them off. The Goa'uld kept the human slaves they had while the humans of Earth forgot that they even where real. Later once we reached the galaxy scale we went to war with them and with the help of other allies like the Asgard, Tok'ra and free Jaffa the Goa'uld empires fell. That is were we get Tau'ri from, when we made contact with the human slaves they named us Tau'ri, first ones or those of the first world."

Liara was focused on the story not even touching her food, it was an interesting story for sure but she felt like she was only getting a brief shortened version and she wanted the longer and more detailed version.

"Since that day, the unification of the free Jaffa and the now free human slaves collective called the Lucian Alliance has broken apart into smaller and smaller groups. Civil wars are common and we the Tau'ri are basically the unquestioned power in our space." explained Sheppard "Some Lucian Alliance worlds have joined us to become Tau'ri themselves."

"I see, well we will need to unify them as soon as possible." stated Garrus as he took a deep breath. "There is a threat our door, we call them Reapers."

"Reapers?" inquired Ashley

"Yes, from everything we have gathered every 50,000 years the Reapers sweep in from outside the galaxy and remove all advance life to clear the way while leaving those below a certain technological level alone until the next circle." Explained Liara "They whipped out the Protheans the race that ruled Citadel before us and had an empire which spread out over all known space."

"Why would they do this?" inquired EDI "Doesn't make any logical sense."

"They harvest the races to make another Reaper." explained Garrus "They take the biomass and memories of the people to form a new reaper and therefor in their view preserve the race in an inorganic form for all time."

"So we are dealing with biological robots?" inquired Torren before looking his fellow Tau'ri "Like the Cylon's but on a galactical scale?"

"I don't believe that is what they are going for Sheppard." Countered EDI before looking at the guests "Do these Reapers look like the Races they take over?"

"For the most part no, they form them into ships with some of their ground forces taking on the look of those they turned." explained Garrus as Mordin pulled up the image of a turned Turian, often called a Marauder. It looked like more like a robot with biological parts under robotic armor. "This what they did to a Turian they captured, but their main ship is this class."

The image of what looked to the Tau'ri to be a kind of squid or cuttlefish with multiple arms and covered with large metal plates appeared above the table.

"Each ship we believe follows this general pattern but can range between 160 meters tall to over two kilometers tall." explained Garrus not fully believing he was explaining the reapers to people who seamed to believe him without question without seeing the Reapers personally. "And they are coming to remove all advance life from the galaxy."

"I see, can we have copies of the data on these Reapers?" inquired Sheppard

"Of course, but we have to inform you that most of the galaxy including the council themselves tend not to believe in the Reapers." explained Liara

"I didn't believe it until Garrus here picked me up fighting mercenaries in Omega as Archangel did I believe a word about these Reapers." stated Nyraan "We didn't rescue those Turian colonist at the collector base but it was still a win."

"And he picked me up in a bar and offered me a chance to kill and he hasn't let me down." Laughed Wrex, suddenly the computer in front of Sam beeped and she picked up the tablet.

"What is it?" inquired Torren

"I requested updates from the Prometheus about any medical information we got from the data from Aria with a focus on Krogans since we are here." explained Sam as she looked across the table. "Can you explain this, Genophage?"

The two Turians and the Salarian Mordin shifted a bit but the Krogan Wrex spoke up.

"It was is what will doom my people to death, they released it during the war and ever since that day countless billions of Krogans babies have died before being born." stated Wrex with anger in his voice.

"How does it work?" inquired Sam

"Basically, it causes an increase genetic mutation which increase still birth and keeps Krogan population in check." Explained Mordin "All research showed that on its own wouldn't bring about the end of the Krogan people. It would instead stabilize it at a level in which they wouldn't be a threat to the galaxy."

"The Krogans war the bloodiest war in our history and they almost brought down the council until the Turians made first contact but even with the strongest military in the galaxy it wasn't enough." Explained Aria "The Council approved the development of the Genophage as a threat…they didn't intend to use it. Then the Turians did."

"And my people have paid for it ever sense." Stated Wrex "And your studies, Krogans fight and seek challenges. We don't sit down and relax like other races, combat is our relaxation."

"How about Gene therapy?" inquired Sam

"No, doesn't work every cell effected by the Genophage." explained Mordin as Sheppard thought about it.

"Sam, what about the Prosses we used to cure my dad from the Iratus bug?" inquired Torren as Sam thought about it.

"Could work, I would need more data for sure." Stated Sam as Wrex smiled while the other races looked on in amazement.

"Alright, so these Reapers do you know where they will strike first?" inquired Sheppard Garrus blinked and looked at him.

"They originally tried to come in to dark space outside the Galaxy by opening a Mass Effect Relay hidden within the Citadel but we stopped them. Because of that they had to come in by flying through space, it has bought us time but time is almost up." explained Garrus "They almost invaded a while ago by reaching the Bahak Relay…we destroyed that Relay before they could use it."

"Where is it?" inquired Sheppard as Liara used her Omni-tool to bring up a map of the galaxy which zoomed in on the location. It was on the far outer edge of the galaxy, beyond that point there was next to nothing beside the void between galaxies.

"Here." stated Liara.

"EDI send the information about the Reapers and a possible jumping off point for their invasion. Tell him I recommend a recon of the area go stealth." Ordered Sheppard as he studied the location again. If that was where the Reapers where coming in from, then their likely base of operation was in the void between Galaxies but in the void between this galaxy and the next one beyond it going away from the Milky Way. EDI nodded her head and stood unnaturally still for a moment.

"Done." confirmed EDI

"You need to add that the Reapers have what we call Indoctrination, they can turn people's mind to their will and make them do what the Reapers want." added Liara

"Add that." ordered Sheppard as EDI stood still again, this time for an even shorter amount of time.

"You believe us?" inquired Garrus kind of amazed that someone would believe him about the Reapers so easily.

"We have seen a lot of strange things but I wouldn't be surprised if the recon mission is delayed slightly until they finish other missions, it is far away from where the fleet currently is." Stated Sheppard

"And where is that?" inquired Liara as Sheppard smiled.

"I already shared a lot of information because I wanted to friendly and we are directed to be open with you to make first contact easier. Stuff like Naquadah you could have gotten with a simple scan of the rounds we fired. You even said you already had a theory about making ZPMs but you have no idea the process needed to make them, even I don't know that. Fleet movement, no I am not going to reveal that." explained Sheppard with a shake of his head. Standing orders where to be friendly with the locals in the hopes of building a relationship with them. The main orders was not to reveal that they had intergalactic travel or the existence of the Stargate, unless a network was already found. If the locals had different names for similar items, then explaining the name differences was acceptable. "Sorry but no."

"Understandable, we wouldn't explain how our weapons work." Said Liara "You have already been far more open then I expected with allowing us to scan your armor."

"You did what?" inquired Ashley as she looked at him.

"Ash calm down, I was surrounded and if they had wanted to they could have killed me and taken the armor." Stated Sheppard as she glared at him before letting out a resigned sigh.

"We wouldn't have done that and Mordin only did a metalogical scan we wouldn't have stolen from you." Countered Garrus as Sheppard raised his hand.

"I know you wouldn't have killed me, now. I am pleased that you didn't scan anything more then a metalogical scan." Explained Sheppard

"I recommend that we drop it." Said Sam with a resigned sigh. "Too late to change it now."

"Ok, what else can you tell us about these Reapers?" inquired Ashley

"Well all of that is in the data and truth be told we have only seen one Reaper but watch…" said Liara as she pulled up the video of the battle of the Citadel. The Tau'ri watched as the massive Reaper appeared surrounded by multiple smaller ships. They watched as this Reaper fired it's main weapon, a red beam which cut straight through ships. Across the table Garrus's eyes locked on Sheppard, he was muttering something under his breath.

"Liara pause it." Ordered Garras as the image paused.

"If I may inquire what are you saying under your breath?" inquired Garrus as Sheppard blinked.

"I was counting Mississippi's." Stated Sheppard as the Aliens across from him looked at him confused.

"He is counting the rate of fire of that main beam gun." Explained EDI "Counting Mississippi's is short hand for counting seconds. The rate of fire is 96 seconds."

"Sorry, keep going Liara." Said Garrus unaware that in the back of each of the Tau'ri's mind they noted that the rate of fire for the ancient beam cannon which were the main weapons on battleships, Carriers and defense stations was 90 seconds.

They finished watching as the Turion fleet arrived and the destruction of the Reaper within the structure of the Citadel itself. The Citadel, it was designed around a center ring with five long arms and a matching much shorter arms behind it. The larger arms had skyscrapers coming out of it while the shorter arms lacked any visible structure. The Citadel itself could fold up into a cylinder with the shorter arms covering the top part of the center ring.

"And this Citadel is made out of Naquadah?" inquired Sheppard

"Key parts for strength yes but not the whole thing. That is why we don't harvest the Naquadah from the Citidal, it could destroy it." explained Liara as she pulled up a map of the Citadel and highlighted the main ring and the supporting structures holding the arms to the ring and long struts running down the center of each arm.

"Some people have tried and that is when the Keepers, they are a race of creatures left to maintain the Citadel by the Reapers get violent. The only time they do." Added Mordin "History says a group of thieves tried to take some Naquadah by cutting a cub 10 by 10 out of an inner column and the Keepers shut down life support for an whole block. Luckily, they choose a mostly unpopulated area of the Citadel, still hundreds died. No one has tried since."

"As for the Mass effect relays are mostly made of what you call Naquadah with large amounts of Element Zero." Continued Liara "And if we try to harvest any from them we loss the Relay and we need that to travel."

"Who built it?" inquired Sheppard

"Common belief was and still is that the race that came before us, the Protheans built it but we now know it is much older built by the Reapers themselves." explained Liara "Earliest example we have of a Reaper is just under a billion years old. So likely around that time but we can't be sure."

Sheppard nodded his head, not speaking the question which came to mind. He would have to ask EDI that later.

 **Far away from the Normandy, Aria and Colonel Drugo had moved down from their meeting area to a firing range located near Afterlife.**

"This is a M-15 Vindicator." Explained Aria as she held up an assault rifle looking weapon, it looked more box shaped then any weapon they had but it clearly fit the roll of an assault rifle. With skill and grace Aria spun toward the targets down range and fired a short burst down range hitting the targets.

"A rail gun or energy weapon?" inquired Drugo

"Mass Accelerated." explained Aria as Drugo nodded his head, it was basically the same thing. "A little bit of Element zero lowers the mass of a round and sends it flying down range at high speed. If you increase anything to a certain speed it will become deadly."

"True." Confirmed Drugo as he studied the ammo clip for the weapon, called a thermal clip. He picked it up from the table full of items that would trade to the Josephus Daniel. It was lighter then he expected but judging but it carried more rounds then his own weapon. He had quickly figured out that Mass Accelerated and Railgun were basically the same thing.

"Here is a wide range of ammo types and grenades." added Aria as she ran her hand over the table over full of weapons. He moved past the weapons toward the samples of the armor, unlike the armor he was used to all of these had what they called barriers basically shields. He knew that the engineers of the Tau'ri had developed a shield based off ancient technology that could be worn by the average soldier. The issue was that the shield was a wrap around shield the would cover the gun as well. That worked fine for energy weapons like the Ancients used but railguns wouldn't work. The shield would let energy beams pass through, but the shield would cover the barrel of the gun causing the round to slam into that barrier destroying the gun and wounding possibly killing whoever fired.

Theory was issue could be solved with more computing power which would open the shield for a micro second in the area in front of the barrel like it does on the ships but so far that hadn't worked. The other option was to switch to energy-based weapons however memory of the Replicators only be able to be stopped by gunfire along with the fact that energy weapons tended to glow when fire allowing an enemy to find the shooter and railguns didn't. Railguns also had the rate of fire advantage and a solider could carry more railgun rounds compared to energy pack for an energy weapon. This meant that the railgun was the primary weapon of the Tau'ri.

"All good, now can you show me some of these Biotics?" inquired Drugo as Aria placed the rifle down and with hands glowing blue she tore a target down range in two.

"Using Element Zero within our bodies we can control mass effect fields." explained Aria "Asari like myself are all-natural biotics but almost every race has biotics."

"But not all?" inquired Drugo

"No, Hanar and Elcor can't become Biotics something to due with their biology." Explained Aria "Some biotics are rarer then others, Dell biotics common enough now Salarians are very rare biotics."

"I see, that may explain why the Opochti people aren't biotics." stated Drugo as Aria looked at him. "The Opochti people have the only source of Element Zero in our galaxy but none of them have ever developed powers like Biotics."

"Sucks for them." Stated Aria as suddenly Drugo tensed up. His hand dove for his side arm and spinning around he leveled his pistol at Aria's face. The barrel moved past her head and he fired over her shoulder toward what looked to nothing. The round glowed a bright red and moved slower then normal but it was still fast enough. The round disappeared midair, as it did all the guards turned their weapons on Drugo however Arai turned toward where he fired. The round had disappeared in midair in the form a figure, with another shimmer the figure fell onto the ground. The shimmer finally stopped to reveal a Salarian on the floor.

"Hold fire." ordered Aria as she moved toward the figure and flipped him over and studied him for a couple of moments. "Blue Suns armor…but clearly not Blue Suns, they don't have access to this level of cloaking technology. It has to be either Spectres or STG, likely STG they are always poking around here."

"Likely here to gather information about our dealings with you." Stated Drugo as he placed transport beacons on each of the containers full of weapons. Within seconds all of them disappeared in flashes of light. "I only stunned him, I ask that you let him go."

"Why?" inquired Aria

"Because if he died then we may run into an issue when we deal with the Council." said Drugo as he flexed his hand, the hand in which Admiral Cain had stabbed her knife through while he was a prisoner in the colonies. He had become famous after his near hanging and escape; too famous he had changed his name to escape calls from people. Not a big name change for sure but enough to throw people off his trail and allowing him to return to combat. "So

"How did you know he was there." said Aria, she snapped her fingers as two guards came and took the STG member away for questioning. "This type of cloak is invisible to motion tracking."

"My suits sensors are better then yours." Answered Drugo, it was a half truth it was his life sign detector not the motion tractor. A few moments later three more plates of Naquadaha appeared where the cases had been before. "The rest of your payment."

"Well…one last thing is required." added Aria as an aid walked forward with a briefcase. She took it from the aid before placing it down on a small table, she opened it to show five cases of element zero in storage cases. One of the cases was a darker color then the other four which cause Drugo to raise an eyebrow. "Four of them are refined the last one, the darker one is raw Element Zero. I figure maybe we can do more business, we have Element Zero and we can refine it. You have Naquadah and the skills and no how to make some very interesting stuff from it. We can do a lot of business together."

"So we can, it will be up to those above me but I will give them the message. I thank you." Said Drugo as Aria closed the briefcase and handed it to him. It took half a second for him to take the briefcase and shift it over to his other hand. Then he extended his hand and she extended her own and the two of them shook. "Until we meet again."

"Glad we meet Drugo." Said Aria with a smile as Drugo stepped back and within second he and the rest of the Tau'ri disappeared in flashes of light.

 **After a working dinner Garrus and his team stepped off the Normandy's ramp and headed back toward where the rest of their team was located.** Sheppard, Ash, EDI and Sam stood at the ramp as well watching them disappear as darkness began to fall over the planet.

"Well we all should get some sleep, the Minnesota should arrive in around 7 hours." Said Sam as she and Ash turned and headed back into the heart of the ship. Torren followed as the ramp stayed down, it was both a show that the Normandy wouldn't take off without warning and the fact that there were a dozen marines outside patrolling around the ship. Unlike the two women, Torren stopped before he reached the elevator.

"EDI I have a question for you." Started Torren as EDI appeared in front of him. Out of the corner of his eye he could see the EDI that had been with them at the dinner and the ramp still walking with the girls. Since EDI was an AI with a holographic projection she could appear in multiple places at once. He wouldn't have been surprised if a third EDI was at this moment in the cockpit with Joker.

"What can I do for you Sheppard?" inquired EDI

"Alright you will have to follow me on this a bit but what if the reason we haven't found any Stargates in this galaxy even though the Ancient records say they built them here is because these Reapers took them." Stated Sheppard as EDI blinked. "What if after the Ancients placed them down, the Reapers took them and then used the Naquadaha to make these Relays."

"Possible given the size of each Relay it would take a lot of Stargates to make I would have to run some simulations to figure out how many but it could be done." admitted EDI as she placed her arm under her chin and looked to one side, deep in though like any human would. "But that wouldn't server these Reapers goals? If these relays are meant to speed up the development of advanced races between each galactic cycle stargates would be an even faster route then these Relays."

"And would make it a lot harder to harvest the races." countered Sheppard "My mother told me stories about how whenever the Wraith would culling a world people would escape through the stargate. Now the Wraith where never out to get all the humans, they needed them to repopulate but if the Reaper's goals are to get all the humans."

"Having them escape through the stargate to any point within the gate network would be an unacceptable to them." Added EDI as she began to see the pieces which Torren had put together. "The Relays limit the points any refugees could escape too and would make cleanup work much easier. It is an interesting theory for sur but at the moment we have no evidence to support it."

"We have a missing Stargate network and this Relay network." Countered Sheppard "Either way send this theory to the Prometheus maybe they can think of something."

"I will, at the moment I have been looking into why we didn't detect those Turian ships until they were on top of us" explained EDI

"Any ideas about that?" inquired Sheppard, he should have been focused on that question too.

"Well if what Liara said is true the relays lower the atomic mass of an object and then creates a corridor in which they can travel much faster then light." Explained EDI "The best guess I have is that our sensors are not calibrated to detect ships within those corridors. Similar to how we couldn't detect Colonial FTL in the early part of the colonial war."

"I see." said Sheppard "So all we have to do is adjust the sensors?

"Likely but until another ship comes out of the Relay we can't confirm that." Explained EDI

"Alright." Said Sheppard fighting back a yawn, but EDI noticed.

"Now I recommend you get some sleep." Advised EDI as Sheppard nodded his head and touched the still sour spot where his shoulder was still healing.

"Night EDI." Said Sheppard

"Goodnight Sheppard." Said EDI as her imaged flickered a bit as she disappeared.

 **Most of Garrus teammate was sleeping in what passed for the quarters among the Krogans**. It was basically a large room with sleeping rolls spread out over the room, the only benefit seamed to be a bathroom at far end of the room which looked semi clean compared to the rest of the place. Most of the team was sleep, Legion was standing perfectly still with a power core beside him as the Geth recharged and carried out internal scans. Samara was awake but in meditation keeping in line with the requirements of her order. Thane also sat in what looked to be a meditation stance, with his legs crossed and his arms on his knees however with his eyes closed he was fast asleep. Only other person up beside those was Grunt but he was outside drinking with his fellow Krogan and Tali who was reading a data pad.

"So how did the council take some news about the Tau'ri?" inquired Tali

"They really didn't like that they had AI even with the whole cloning thing they do to make them biological." Stated Garrus as he sat down on his own cot. "That will come up for sure when they meet."

"What about them claiming to have a cure for the Genophage?" inquired Tali "That must have gotten under their skin."

"Not as much as you would think, the Krogans have hired multiple private companies to find a cure, none have ever come close." explained Garrus "They don't believe that the Tau'ri are capable of doing it."

"And what about you what do you think of these Tau'ri?" inquired Tali

"They are interesting, but I think they are hiding something." Stated Garrus as Tali tilted her head a bit.

"They told us a lot and you think they are hiding something?" inquired Tali "If I was their commanders I would yell at them for giving away too much."

"That is the point, they are giving away so much it makes me wonder what they are hiding from us." Stated Garrus "They are making us look at so many things, but they haven't shown us where their space is? When the Turians made first contact we exchanged maps with the rest of the Citadel races."

"Same with our people." Admitted Tali "Just because they are protecting the locations of their worlds doesn't mean much."

"Possibly, but I think they are hiding something, something big." Explained Garrus as he remembered something Grunt had said when he had been awakened his cloning tank. "Offer one hand but arm the other."

"Besides they have learned a lot from Aria, they admitted she is giving them information." Countered Tali "They knew about the Genephage and likely they know a lot more."

"True, Aria likely just walked into council funded Liberty on Omega and copied all the data and gave it to them." Said Garrus before laughing a bit. "Aria would find that funny, using free information to get whatever the Tau'ri gave her for all that data, 100% profit or close enough once you subtract the cost of the data cores. Still all that data will take time to go through and we know next to nothing about the Tau'ri. What is their government like, what is their history, what is the size of their military and what level of technology they are at."

"Our technology is based off Element Zero, theirs off Naquahad. I don't think we would be able to recreate their technology and they wouldn't be able to recreate ours." Explained Tali "Unless we want to rip apart the Citadel or a lot of mass Relays."

"That is where you are wrong, they have a relationship with Aria now. They can get their hands-on element Zero with ease and get our technology and like you said we have no real access to Naquadah." Stated Garrus "The Good news is that the Tau'ri so far seam good and besides we will all need to come together to deal with the Reapers. Maybe fighting beside us will bound us together into a new galaxy once this is done."

"Enemy of my enemy is my allies." said Tali as she looked at the time. "I am going to get some sleep, I think you should to."

"I will, thanks Tali." confirmed Garrus as he leaned back on his cot and let sleep take him.

 **An unbelievable distance away from the room Garrus and his team slept in, the sun was shinning through the windows of the Tau'ri Presidential Estate on Earth.** President Samantha Carter had finished her daily intelligence briefing about the threats across the galaxies in which the Tau'ri now operated in. The situation in the Milky Way galaxy was not looking as good as she would have liked, everything was good on the Tau'ri side but more and more free Jaffa and Lucian Alliance nations where breaking apart. Some experts on TV compared it to the fall of the Soviet Union but on a galactic scale and having among multiple different powers. Even Colonial Religious terrorist attacks where down but Sagittarian was still a powder cage similar to what Jerusalem was before the treaty of Moscow.

The situation on the Pegasus front was better, after generations of Wraith feeding on them the population of that galaxy was starting to increase. The Tau'ri military found and destroyed a Wraith base killing over a hundred Wraith in a single attack. The Wraiths where all but gone with bands just trying to survive by carrying out raids through the gate. The situation in the ORI galaxy after decades of war after the fall of the ORI had finally settled for the moment, they hadn't reunified but had basically fought against each other so much that they had destroyed themselves and where unable to do anything to threaten the Milky Way at the moment.

The real issue was before her at the moment, this issue was in the Torch Galaxy where the Prometheus mission had made contact with the Races of the Citadel Council. Thanks to the onboard stargate on the Prometheus she had gotten a download of the information from the mission right way. She moved her hand over the holographic display as she looked at the images of races which arose in the distance galaxy. Some of them looked remarkably human, like the Asari however if reports where true they were an all-female race and had powers called Biotics. Others looked like floating jellyfish and armored birds. She was about to put away the information and turn toward her first appointment of the day, a talk about an upcoming trade mission to the Colonies. The beeping sound from her computer caused her to stop, she looked up at the screen and saw an update bar. This meant that Military was updating the report. She took a drink of her coffee only to lower it when she saw the update finish.

"Reapers?" inquired Sam as she began to read the report. Once she was done she reached for her phone and called the head of the Tau'ri military, General Leong.

"Madam President." Said the General nicknamed even before her invasion of Tauron, the Tigress.

"Have you seen this report about the Reapers in the Torch Galaxy?" inquired Sam

"I was just looking it over, I was about to order a meeting about it and working groups to start going over the data." explained General Leong "I hope to have more information for you in two days once the Normandy reaches the Citadel and once the Josephus Daniels returns to the fleet to carry out a more detailed study items they got from Omega. They also have the samples of Zephry or as they call it Element Zero. Early reports is that it is a higher grade then anything we have ever seen outside of Ancient records."

"Alright, but I want in on that meeting." ordered President Carter before she cursed to herself. The trade meeting was two days away, she would be off world. "I just remembered I will be off world for a trade meeting, I'll be gone two days."

"I'll send you a report about the meeting and then we will meet again once you return and go over all the new information." Offered General Leong as Sam nodded her head.

"Very well." Said Sam as General Leong saluted on her screen, Carter returned the salute before cutting the link.

 **It was just before sunrise on Tuchanka when the Normandy lifted off the ground and headed back into space, with additional people onboard.** For their part Garrus and his team minus Grunt and Wrex gathered in the mess hall of the Normandy. Grunt and Wrex were staying behind on their home world and their people. The Normandy lifted off the ground smoother then any ship any of them had been on before and headed up into space. The Turian cruisers kept the Normandy in their sights incase something happened. Instead the Normandy did what it was told and moved into a lower orbit then the cruiser and waited.

Liara was the first to see it, a vortex of energy opening up in the space between Tuchanka and the nearest world. It was a distance away from the Turian cruisers and the Dreadnought by the Relay but still within view. Out of that vortex came not one not even two but seven ships. Six of them while large would have fallen into the range of cruisers but the one in the center wasn't.

"By the Goddess that is a Dreadnought." stated Liara as the Normandy moved toward the massive warship heading deeper into the system. As they neared the ship they saw it was surrounded by a swarm of smaller black fighters, much more then what would be around even a Turian fleet. The Turian cruiser moved into a defensive position as the Normandy passed by them heading toward the Dreadnought.

"If they have Dreadnoughts the council will not be happy." Added Garrus as the Dreadnought turned to it's side so that they could see it's side profile. He breathed a little easier after that, the main mass accelerated weapons would be located in the bow of the ship away from them. It was however pointed toward the Turian Dreadnought located by the mass effect relay.

 **Onboard that Turian Dreadnought alarms where going off as the ship was made ready for combat, they had been warned about the arrival of multiple Tau'ri ships but they had expected some cruisers not a Dreadnought plus supporting fleet.**

"Alert the council, the Tau'ri have a Dreadnought." Ordered the Captain of the ship as the cruisers moved away from the planet into a protective screen around his larger ship. They began to scan the Tau'ri ships focusing on the Dreadnought as they began to get a picture of what they where dealing with. They were not liking what they saw, the image appeared on a holographic display on the bridge.

"Where did it come from? How come we didn't detect it or any other of their ships?" inquired the second officer

"Unknown sir, we have never seen any ship travel like that." Admitted the sensor officer.

"1.6 kilometers long, shaped like a sword with a thinner section in the front with a larger back area by the engines." stated the head Engineer as he studied the image of the Tau'ri Dreadnought. "This is different then anything we have seen, those hangers in the back are much larger than we would have."

"Look at the number of fighters they have in the area around their ships." stated the weapon's officer. "Those cruisers there also have large hangers, so maybe fighters are a key part of their view on warfare."

"Possible." confirmed the Captain as the sensors picked up a shuttle craft leaving the Dreadnought and heading toward the Normandy which had turned to face him. That concerned him until the Normandy extended a docking arm allowing the shuttle craft to dock without actually entering the ship.

"Minnesota this is Normandy, Dr. Lawson is onboard." said a Tau'ri voice over an open communication channel.

"Understood Normandy, good luck with the contact with the Council." Said another voice. "We are going to the Primary site."

"Understood and good luck to you." Said the first Tau'ri voice as the Transport undocked from the Normandy and headed back toward the Dreadnought. Then the Normandy turned in the direction away from the Relay but in the direction that would take them toward the Citadel. The rest of the fleet Tau'ri fleet turned in the other way as the captain checked a secondary screen. All the transponders in the armor of Spectre Vakarian and his team where still broadcasting from onboard the Normandy and none of them had hit their crash alarms which would warn them that something was up. That was when a vortex of energy opened up in front of the Normandy and it shot forward before the vortex closed. The moment it did they lost the beacons. The Tau'ri fleet was still in the system but had turned away from the planet and moment later they too disappeared into vortexes of energy. Just like that the space around them was back to normal.

 **For Garrus the 8 hour trip to the Citadel was nothing but a pain, using the Tau'ri's own communication system to link with lines of communication back to the Citadel he was in constant contact with the Citadel council.** The council couldn't trace his flight path and he wasn't allowed in the communion center on the ship, instead it was routed to his Omni tool. He didn't blame the Tau'ri for that but it was a pain to look at small screen instead of full holographic display. He was giving almost up to the minute reports about what Liara was learning about the Tau'ri. She had requested and got a data pad containing the information about the Tau'ri history and governmental system.

"So they have an elected President with a congress made out two bodies a house based on population and a Senate in which every territory government gets two votes?" inquired Valern "But you don't know how many worlds they have?"

"Liara says they removed that part from the data they gave her." explained Garrus

"Hiding it so we don't know their numbers incase of war." Stated Sparatus as the ever military minded Turian focused on that. "They have a dreadnought, this is something we have never dealt with before. First contact with a dreadnought."

It was something Garrus had thought of as well, under the Treaty of Farixen each Citadel race was limited on the number of Dreadnoughts each navy could have. Being the largest military the Turians had 39 dreadnoughts while the Asari had 21 and Salarians 16. Before they left the Citadel the Balarians had 6 but since they left the council they were no longer bonded by the treaty so they could be build Dreadnoughts. Depending on how many Dreadnoughts the Tau'ri had it would be an issue, one or two would be acceptable if not welcomed but if it was anything above the Balarians old number of 6, the council would demand they decommission the extra ships. That issue was in the back of his mind but that was unlikely.

"I remind Council member Sparatus that the Turian Hierarchy tried to hide the number of worlds they had until they officially joined the council." Reminded Tevos as Sparatus glared at her. The council had gathered in a private meeting room behind the public council room, however the three council members weren't alone the ambassadors for the Hanar, Elcor and Volus. The Volus was a special case, they had an ambassador and even had a single dreadnought but they were client race to the Turians, similar to the Drells and the Hanar only the Drells didn't have an ambassador. Because this was a first contact, a Drell aid to the Hanar ambassador was in the room as well but she remained quiet behind the Hanar. "We need to give them time."

"Very well." Said Sparatus not really liking it fully. "Will this Major Sheppard be allowed to share that kind of information with the Council."

"I don't believe so sir, this seams to be a first contact but not a full first contact but Major Sheppard will be setting the ground work for the leaders to make official first contact with the Council." Explained Garrus as Sparatus crossed his arms over his chest and gave a look at that this wasn't worth his time. Even Valern seamed annoyed by that this wouldn't be a true first contact but Tevos nodded her head in understanding.

"We can't expect them to have their leaders on a recon ship or even on a dreadnought." Stated Tevos "This is only the first step in a process, we aren't shooting at each other and that is a good first step."

"Agreed." Confirmed Valern as even Sparatus nodded his head in agreement.

"When will you arrive?" inquired the Hanar ambassador in a computer voice, the Hanar had no mouths and communicated to each other by bio-illuminate lights on their body so everyone of them used a computer to speak to none Hanar. "This one is looking forward to meeting the Tau'ri humans."

"We will be at the Citadel in 2 hours. Reported Garrus

"We have a VP docking place opened and waiting." Confirmed Tevos "Now until you arrive Spectre Victorian."

 **Just under 90 minutes later Major Toren Sheppard stepped off the elevator and into the command center of his ship.** He had ditched his duty wear for his dress uniform which he hated. The long sleeve coat with a high collar buttoned all the way up, it was a deep navy blue which looked black at a distance. The buttons themselves where silver along with the trim, he had his name tag and metal commendation badges on his breast. His peaked cap was the silver in color with a navy-blue brim, silver and navy being the official colors of the Tau'ri flag. His pants where silver as well, along with the belt around his waist, a ceremonial officer sword hung from that as well. He wore gloves as well, once again silver.

Asley was waiting for him, in a matching uniform minus the sword while a group of two marines and a navy officer stood nearby. All of them where in dress uniforms as well, only the navy man was in his dress white uniform which was almost a twin to his only all the navy was replaced with white and his belt wasn't visible. The marines had old fashion bolt action rifles with bayonets on them, while the navy man held a pole with the flag of the Tau'ri on it. They would serve as the color guard for the meeting, allowing weapons to be brought in took some convincing until Garrus had seen the polished bolt action rifles and the sword he wore. Then it was decided to let it pass, those weapons where next to harmless against the protection the council would have.

Sam and the newly arrive Dr. Lawson stood there as well, both of them being civilians they wore dress civilian suits. Dr. Lawson looks that made every straight man on the Normandy stop and look at her and she seamed to know it, Ashley and Sam where good-looking women on their own but Lawson looked like someone who belonged on a walkway in Paris or Celin on Vahalla not on the bridge of a warship and a lab room.

"Sheppard we are almost there." Reported Joker as he sat in the forward cockpit of the Normandy. Sheppard along with the others moved toward the forward window, it wasn't an actual window that was too much of a risk to have on the bridge, mess hall yes bridge no.

"Exiting hyperspace in 5…4…3…2..1." reported EDI as she counted down the time, as always she was on time as the Normandy exited hyperspace and returned to normal space. They had positioned themselves to come out near the Mass Effect relay and what they saw was a massive dust and gas cloud, then in the distance they could see multiple ships.

"I have contact with over two hundred ships." Reported EDI "Most of them appear to be civilian ships in nature but the nearest ones are military vessels."

"Well this is their capital, we have the 1st fleet guarding the Sol system." said Sheppard as the Normandy followed the pre-arranged path, leading it through a corridor of warships. Six of which formed a ring around the Frigate as it headed in.

"Sir, we have one ship 2 kilometers long and two kilometers tall right in front of us." reported EDI as they came through a gas cloud to see a massive ship, it was huge with four wing like structures shooting out of the top, bottom and sides.

"I am betting that is their flag ship." answered Sam with a slight grin, at the moment the Battleship Missouri was flag ship of the Tau'ri fleet but that was going to change soon. Then they saw it, in the distance behind the massive warship was a huge station. The path they took gave them a view from the side at first as they swung around they saw that it had five large arms all aglow with lights from the massive city which covered all the arms. In the center was a giant ring that the five arms attached to, a single large structure or something use was built out to the center of the ring.

"Citadel Control, this is Tau'ri Alliance Vessel Normandy requesting permission to land." reported Joker.

"Normandy this is Citadel control follow the guild path toward the Citadel Presidium and the Citadel Tower." confirmed a voice over the speakers as the Normandy entered the massive structure.

"How big is it?" inquired Ash

"44.7 kilometers long by 12.8 kilometers wide." reported EDI "Going by life sign detectors it looks like just over 13 million people live here."

"Large for a space station for sure, but Atlantis is bigger and so is our new capital on Earth." countered Miranda, it wasn't that she was wrong. Atlantis was the size of Manhattan and their new Capital was just smaller then New York city as a whole, but unlike Atlantis is couldn't fly. Still she was missing the point of the view of the city all around them, it was a sight to behold.

Sheppard turned his gaze away from the city and looked toward the massive ring and stopped breathing for a moment. He looked at ring, with what looked at the massive docking ports which surrounded the ring. Then he thought he saw two familiar looking shapes, then he looked again and his blood turned to ice.

"EDI, can you scan that docking area and remove the docks." Ordered Sheppard as EDI turned her head and looked at him for a second before doing what she was told.

"What is it Torren?" inquired Ash as EDI's eyes widened as she scanned the area with the ships sensors. She said nothing as a holographic image of the docking area appeared. Then she removed the docks themselves to show that the ring itself wasn't a single ring but instead two rings that slowly rotated like the rest of the station did. The outer most ring didn't move and on those where nine hard points. Everyone took a deep breath and held it was they looked at the image before them.

"My God." said Sam as Ashley stood there at a lost for words

"It's a Stargate." Said Torren. "The Citadel is a Stargate Supergate with a city built around it."

 **Well I hope you liked this chapter and the little twist I added at the end, I have gotten more then a few reviews and PM about how much the Tau'ri are giving away information wise. I hope I explained in this chapter at least some of my reasons. Now until next time please keep reading. Thanks Wilkins75  
**


	7. Chapter 7

**IMPORTANT NOTE: Just wanted to get this out before the Chapter so everyone can read it, I am leaving on a long vacation starting on the 5** **th** **of July. My friends from high school and I are going to visit some cities along the East coast of the United States, so needless to say I am not going to have much time to write. I will still be writing but it will be after a long day of seeing the sites of the cities we are visiting and hanging out with old friends. So don't expect a new chapter until after I return on the 15th of July. Sorry now enjoy the chapter.**

 **Chapter 7 Face to Face**

Space ripped open in a massive vortex as a Tau'ri battleship class vessel the TAV Minnesota exited hyperspace. At once the ships powerful scanners went to work scanning the surrounding space for any sign of an enemy ship, the only ship detected was the waiting Normandy class frigate the TAV Josephus Daniels. What was detected was a natural wonder, 6 black holes where within visual range for the ship. The six black holes where all circling each other like wolves deciding who was going to attack first. In this case since they were moving on just a flat plane but could move in all directions it formed a kind of bubble around a region of space about the size of the sole system. The rate of movement was extremely slow but inside that ring of black holes provided a natural protection for anything inside with narrow corridors in which a ship could pass without being affected by the forces of the black hole. It was a nearly perfect defensive position and that was why the Tau'ri had come.

The Minnesota moved one of the narrow corridors which would allow access to the center reign of space. Passing through the gaps as it moved into was basically as safe of a harbor as one could naturally find in space. From this position it would be impossible to come in at hyper drive without stopping outside the ring of black holes. Coming out of hyperspace near a blackhole was not recommended and if someone tried they would likely exit hyperspace right on the edge of the black hole and die. It was a perfect defensible position and the Minnesota and the other Tau'ri ships and the mission of the Minnesota was to secure and hold this position until the rest of the task force arrived. The only part of the plan which had really changed beside the stop over with the Normandy was the arrival of the Josephus Daniel with examples of different technology from this galaxy.

The process was as simple as it was routine, cargo was beamed onboard the massive battleship and brought into one of the onboard science labs. There it was sorted and cataloged, with basic scans of the items before being sent to different experts for study in their own labs across the ship. The fire arms for example where sent to be studied by engineers before being tested in the firing range. One of the first things to be processed and cataloged was the containers of Element Zero. The briefcase like item was brought to the metallurgy lab where two technicians began to study the element. The raw element zero or Zephry as they knew it was the same as they found back in the Milky Way galaxy. After finishing those tests they moved on to the refined Zephry given to the team by Aria. Both technicians' eyes widened as the test results came in and the lead on sent the report straight to the Captain who in turn sent it straight to Hackett. The report on the element zero and the discovery by the Normandy happened to arrive at the Prometheus at almost the same time.

 **For his part it was nearing 4 am ship time onboard the Prometheus as it neared the outer edge of the Torch galaxy at the current speed it and the massive fleet of Tau'ri ships where 6 hours away from the primary building site for the super gate.** Admiral Hackett was sound asleep in his cabin onboard the shipwhen the phone began to ring beside his bed he looked up at the display in a mix of anger and frustration, he really wanted to get some sleep not deal with whatever the phone call was about. Still it was his job to deal with it and while it meant getting less sleep then he wanted, he enjoyed his job. He reached out a tapped the phone causing a holographic image of a younger officer, a Colonel to appeared. The young Colonel couldn't see him, that was a feature of the phone to avoid answering a video phone when you were in no position to appear in public.

"This is Hackett." answered Hackett as he sat up and placed both feet on the deck. Since this was the Admirals cabin, instead of a metal floor it was wood and had both a private bathroom and a study all his own.

"Sir, this is the watch officer we have just received two reports one from the Minnesota about the refined Zephry or Element Zero as the locals call it." started the watch officer as Hackett let out a sigh, yes that was important for sure but not worthy of waking him up in the middle of the night. "Sir, I wouldn't have wakened you up just for that but the Normandy has found something."

With that the image of the officer disappeared replaced with what looked to be a giant space station of some kind. It had five large arms set out from a center circle ring. Judging by the listed dimensions it was massive in size, was it the equal of Atlantis no but nothing the Tau'ri had built in space was the equal of Atlantis. Not even the Pegasus Galaxy super gate or the Torch galaxy super gate which they were coming to build was equal in size to Atlantis, the only thing was larger was the new Tau'ri Capital on Earth and that couldn't fly. Either way it was an amazing image but then the arms disappeared and what looked to be docking area around the center ring was stripped away as well to show a super gate.

"What the?" inquired Hackett

"Sir, the Citadel, that is the name of this place and for the lack of a better term the capital of Citadel Space is a super gate with a city built around it." explained the Colonel

"Alright, this changes things. Wake up Dr. McKay and Dr. Rush along with the main staff I want them in the meeting room in 30 minutes." ordered Hackett as the Colonel nodded his head.

"Sir, what orders should I send to Major Sheppard? He is asking for clarification?" inquired the Colonel as Hackett rubbed his chin, he could feel a little bit of stubble on it. He would have to shave before the meeting and the Prometheus and the rest of the fleet was still 16 hours away from the staging ground so they had some time.

"He is cleared to inform them about us being from another galaxy but he is not to reveal the Stargate network or the super gate. Inform Earth as well, this will change things." stated Hackett, the orders from the State Department and the civilian government was to not hide as much from the races of this galaxy. Aside from setting up the super gate and establishing trade there was no interest in colonizing this galaxy. The Tau'ri had 30 percent of their own galaxy plus the Pegasus Galaxy was basically wide open if they wanted to push it. The Wraiths had done a number on the people of that galaxy, the population was less than a quarter of the Milky Way and aside from a few races most hadn't archived space flight. The Tau'ri where the only real space power left and the handful of small others where no match against the Tau'ri 9th, 11th and 17th fleets stationed there. The main issue was they didn't want another war most of all one so far away from Tau'ri space and misunderstandings causes war. One of the reasons the Colonial War happened was because the Colonials didn't understand who they were facing down, they believed they were superior to the Tau'ri or at worse equals when it was as even as putting an untrained teenager in the ring against the world champion boxer.

"Understood sir, I will send the message." confirmed the Colonel as the image disappeared and Hackett was left alone in his darkened bedroom. He thought about it for a moment before standing up, stretching as he did before heading to the bathroom to start a new day much too early and it was likely going to be a very long day.

 **The TAV Normandy flew just above the invisible barriers which held in the heat and air in the Citadel's arms as it flew toward the main docking ring.** For Garrus Vakarian it was a heart pounding moment but he held dealt with worse in his dealings facing down the Reapers, he looked beside him to see Liara and Mordin. Like himself they had cleaned up and made sure their armor and cloths where perfectly clean for the cameras.

In truth he would rather have Tali or Grunt beside him but since this was a 1st contact situation the Council wanted to show the 3 members races of the Council and neither of them where council member races. If he came out with Thane the council would have grumbled but accepted to keep the Hanar happy but being so much in the public was not in the former assassin's nature so he was staying behind. He didn't even want to think about how load the council would yell if the Geth, Legion came out, he was only allowed on the Citadel under heavy guard because of the Geth/Reaper attack a few years back.

He rode the elevator up to the main bridge of the Normandy, it was a strange ship for sure but he kind of liked it. When he got off he found a group of three Tau'ri in ceremonial dress uniforms waiting for him. Two of them held old bolt action rifles, with the third holding a flag on a pole with what looked like some kind of flying animals on the top of the pole. The flag of the Tau'ri was a deep rich blue with a silver ring in the center along with an upside down V with a circle on top. He had no idea what it meant but he had a feeling that the Tau'ri wouldn't understand his culture right now so he didn't feel bad about not understand the Tau'ri symbols. Also waiting were Ashley Williams, Sam O'Neill and another woman they had never seen before. The woman had deep dark hair which was much longer than the other two and had what looked to be smoother skin.

"You must be Dr. Lawson." said Garrus "They said they were waiting for your arrival before we came to the Citadel."

"I am Doctor Miranda Lawson, yes." confirmed Miranda as she offered her hand which Garrus took. It was a little strange, the human hand was almost a perfect match for Asari hand but their hands was much warmer then the Asari, likely meaning they had a higher body temperature then Asari did however that was more of a question for Mordin then himself.

"A doctor of what?" inquired Mordin, what was odd by the Citadel race standards was that Dr. Lawson like so many of the Tau'ri they had meet didn't seam thrown off by them. Sure some did look at them in a questioning way but none of them seamed that afraid of them, which is almost the opposite which normally happened in first contacts.

"I specialize in computers, robotics and other technologies." explained Miranda not adding that she had become one of the leading experts on the Stargate themselves along with Ancient and Asgard technology. Even as she put on a false front of calm, her mind was racing as she tried to process how a Stargate super gate could have a city built on top of it. It made no sense, whenever the gate would open the portal opening would kill almost everyone inside thanks to rush of energy shooting forward, commonly called the splash before it settled down. So why build a city where everyone would die when the portal opened it made no sense, but her mind had only begun to study the situation.

"Where is Sheppard he is leading this delegation correct?" inquired Liara as she looked around the gathered group.

"Last minute instructions form High Command." Answered Sheppard as he stepped out of the cockpit area of the ship. The doors sealing behind him but for a quick moment Garrus could see the Normandy was pulling in toward a docking space on the Presidium. Sheppard adjusted his cap and looked at Garrus, before he did Garrus did spot an ear piece which was almost invisible if someone wasn't looking for it. It would be that and the wrist mounted computer under Sheppard and the other Tau'ri clothing that would be translating their words. He had a similar set up with an ear piece linking to his Omni-tool. The sound of the extending docking arm of the Normandy hitting metal as it met with the Citadel's own docking system caused both of them to tense a bit.

"Well here we go." said Sheppard as the airlock opened and a rush of slightly warmer air came over them all. With that he stood aside and let Garrus flanked by Aria and Mordin go forward, he waited a few moments and then followed suit with Ashely, Sam and Miranda following him. Behind them was the honor guard carrying the flag and behind them where two more marines in dress uniforms only they carried pistols on their belts. Those two had the shortest journey as they would stop at the docking bay and stand on either side of the door. They would be public facing guards even as a fully armed and ready assault team would be standing by to defend the ship if need be.

For some reason the sound of camera clicking actually amazed Sheppard the most as he stepped out into what looked to be some kind of public park. It wasn't actually and he knew that, this was a VIP docking area. All around him where multiple different aliens, Asari, Salarians and Turians mostly but he saw others who looked like floating jellyfish, giant four legged ones which seamed to lack any arms and others as well. Floating drones with what had to be cameras were buzzing around like giant insects as the crowd broke out into cheers and a round of applause.

"Well we are already popular." Said Ash as they stood still for a moment by the docking arm for the Normandy as news crews took multiple photos of them.

"In a way, yes." Confirmed Liara as they moved through where the security checkpoint would have been. Only two guards with pistols at their side remained, they waved them through a scanner. The computer beeped when it ID the old fashion firearms and the sword hanging from "It is been a very long time since a first contact, well a first contact that has gone well."

The cheers mixed in with the yelling of questions from what had to be reporters, even multiple galaxies away from Tau'ri space reporters where the same. The area around them reminded the Tau'ri of some of the public new parks in the upgraded cities of the Tau'ri. After the stargate program was reveal a massive public works program was started to upgrade the cities of Earth and later once they joined Lanagara with the technology from the gate. The results where similar to what he saw now, the amount of shinny metal, white stonework with large amount of perfectly manicured plant life. They moved along what for the lack of a better term was a small very slow-moving river. There was fountains in the river or was it better to think of it as a lake either way it didn't matter to Sheppard.

"Nice place." observed Sheppard as he moved up to stand beside Garrus, Liara moving back a bit to allow him up. The image of this strange new alien pushing up to move beside those standing for the Citadel Council member races was a powerful image. It was a beautiful image to some while some saw it as unjustifiable arrogance by these Tau'ri to consider themselves the equal of the council races. These Tau'ri where a new race and not the equal to the council races, it was up to the council to guild them into becoming a civilized member of the galactic community and one must be humble to learn those lessons.

"It is." confirmed Liara as they moved past a stone statue of a Krogan. Flying cars zipped by over their heads as they moved under what looked to be a series of massive proctors which simulated sunlight and likely allowed this part of the station at least to have a day night cycle. "This is the beating heart of Citadel space, the center for government and culture, where all the races come together as equals to share ideas and work together."

"Races coming together as equals to work together for the common good." rephrased Sheppard as he remembered his own history classes back in Atlantis, the classes where tiny because their where few children in Atlantis at first. Sam had been in his class until her family moved to Vahalla when that was founded. The part of the history lessons that came back was the alliance of the 4 great races, the alliance of the Ancients, Asgard, Nox and the Furlings to form the alliance of four races. It was no longer the alliance of four races, the 5th race had risen and confirmed by the Asgard and the Nox the only two living races in the Alliance. The Asgard giving them the title before handing the Tau'ri their legacy before they ended their lives in mass suicide before the sickness caused by countless cloning of themselves killed them.

"All for the common good and your ideas with shape them here." said Liara

"One can hope, however I have a feeling thing are about to change for the people of this galaxy." said Sheppard

Behind him Sam, Ashley and Miranda walked all three of them studying everything they could but each focusing on different things. Being the doctor she was Sam was focusing on the different people around them, spotting some key similarities between the races she knew from her time back home and what she could spot here. Ash for her part being a combat marine was studying everything through a soldier's point of view, she looked for positions in which if they had to they could fall back to defend themselves. Not that they could really do more than call for a beam out, even the bolt action rifles carried by the two guards behind them had firing pins removed. They had the bayonets and a sword but all of them where blunted and where as sharp as a letter opener. Miranda was studying the Citadel itself trying to figure out where they were on the super gate, it was hard because it almost looked as if judging from their location they had to be within the gate itself. That was an interesting question which required a much deeper dive into this space station.

"So where are we going?" inquired Ash

"See that tower?" inquired Mordin as Ash looked at a nearby tower which moved up into the center of the ring.

"That is the Citadel tower and where the council will officially welcome you." explained Garrus as they kept walking as the people of the Citadel flanked their path as they got their first view of these Tau'ri. It was a rather boring trip to the Tau'ri as they walked the nearly mile distance between the docking port where the Normandy was and the tower. It was beautiful scenery and would have been a very enjoyable walk however being basically in a tiny mini parade was not something any of them wanted. Even Garrus, Mordin and Liara was getting tired of this show and the questions being yelled by reporters were getting annoying. Then a couple of Barartians pushed through the crowd only to be stopped by a team of S-sec officers holding back the angry Barartians.

"Murder! Murder!" yelled a couple of them as Garrus let out a sigh.

"Not fans of yours?" inquired Sheppard

"I kind of destroyed a Mass Relay to stop the Reapers and there was a Barartian colony nearby." Explained Garrus in just above a whisper before lowering his head in shame. "Destroyed the whole system, killing the whole colony but it bought us time. Time to prepare for the Reapers."

"I understand." confirmed Sheppard as they moved forward and pass rows of perfectly trimmed trees as they entered the main entrees to the Citadel. Everyone knew this was just the show entrees, there was in fact a much faster route to the Council Chamber but this route was more showy then riding in a transport up to a station only a few rooms over from the council chamber.

As they neared the main entrees members of S-sec the Citadel police force came to attention with their hands behind their back. They walked through the door and into an elevator. Once in it was the first time that all of them had been alone as the elevator lifted off the ground and headed into the tower itself.

"Kind of funny if you think about it." stated Ashley out of the blue as everyone looked at her. "First contact we have to have an O'Neill or a Sheppard, it is basically a Tau'ri requirement and we have both."

"That is true." confirmed Miranda with a slight smile, as both Sam and Torren rolled their eyes as the honor guard chuckled.

"I don't follow?" inquired Liara

"Well, Sam's grandfather is the greatest hero among our people he and his team saved Earth more times than can be counted and Torren's stepfather did the same with Atlantis with his team." explained Miranda "I think together they must have made contact with what had to be over 200 different worlds and people. More if you count the worlds which where unpopulated."

"Well they where exploring what 4 planets every 7 days." added Sam as she tried to remember the stories from her father and grandfather, SG1was the flag ship team so they where the first to explore many worlds however there were other teams who would generally come after SG1 and the other recon teams to study the planets in more detail. "At least I think that was their average."

That got the attention of the Citadel races and judging from looks being shared by the Tau'ri humans in the room it was clear that they weren't lying. Before anymore could be said the elevator, door opened to the council chamber. Before them was a short hallway with a short staircase that lead up into a larger chamber. They returned to their old positions as they entered to find high government officials standing along a back wall clapping and welcoming them as they made their way around a large fountain in the center of the room. They had to climb another set of staircases passing into what looked to be a kind of indoor park with bronze red leaf trees providing a shade of nature to the room around them. In this larger area was more governmental and other officials along with the press. They pressed forward until they reached yet another set of stairs and headed up it. Finally, they reached what had to be the council chamber room, it was set back in a semi-circle area of this massive room with large windows behind where three figures stood. One was a Turian, one was an Asari and the other was a Salarian, those three stood in the center of a raised section. On either side where representatives from the other races along with the highest officials of them all. In between the council and them was a massive gap over what looked to be another park full of those bronze leaf trees. A platform shot out into the gap about a third of the way into the gap, it was there that Garrus guested him.

"Wish me luck." Whispered Torren as he moved onto the platform, with Ash, Sam and Miranda behind him and the honor guard with the flag behind them near the start of the platform. From this position, the council and those in the upper gallery could look down at him. It wasn't much of a difference in height between his and the council's position, but it was noticeable.

"Welcome Major Torren Sheppard of the Tau'ri, it is with great honor that we welcome you, your people and your race to the larger galactic community." Started the female Asari in the middle of the group of three. "I am council woman Tevos of the Asari, while this is only the start of our formal meetings I hope that it is also the start of a great relationship between the Tau'ri and the rest of the races of the galaxy."

"Madam, Council woman on behalf of President Samantha Carter and the Congress of the Tau'ri it is my great honor to be here and to make first contact with the people of your galaxy." started Torren "When we left home on our mission of exploration and discovery we didn't know what we would find and so far it hasn't disappointed us."

For a moment nothing happened as they tried to understand the wording of his opening phase. Most chalked up the strange phrase about your galaxy to be a culture difference, but it was still strange.

"We are pleased to hear this, we the member of Races of the Citadel Council have come together in the spirit of friendship and cooperation." said Tevos

"One part of being within Citadel Space is to share with those members of the council." said the Turian member of the council as he crossed his arms over his chest. By his stance he wasn't in a good mood and seamed angry. "So I must inquire what brings you to our space?"

"We are a race of explorer." explained Torren "Humanity is always reaching for the next horizon whether it be discovering new worlds or new fields of technology we are always pushing the limit to see how far we can go."

"I see, sounds to me like you are a race always on the move and while that can be good it can also lead to many mistakes." countered the Salarian council member, Valern.

"We are a young race and as the Nox are fond of saying "the very young do not always do as they are told" we have much to learn for sure but we have already learned a lot." admitted Torren "We stand on the shoulder of giants, of the great races who came before us and who have entrusted us with their legacy. We have come here in the spirits of exploration and discovery and we hope to form a bond with your people."

"Your goals are honorable however inside Citadel Space you will follow our laws." explained Tevos

"And if you prove yourself worthily of an Embassy on the Citadel you will have to meet certain requirements as well." added Sparatus "Every member is required to fund their own embassy's and take up the credit as their form of currency, I will have the Volus Ambassador discuss that with you later, they are the ones who handle economic issues and of course meet the requirements of the Treaty of Farixen which limits the number of Dreadnoughts you are allowed to have.

"Yes, the arrival of this Dreadnought is concerning." Admitted Tevos "But that is something we can discuss later."

"Excuses me, clarification please Dreadnought what are you talking about?" inquired Sheppard

"Dreadnought is basically a type of battleship." explained Sam before the council could explain. "At least on Earth they are."

"This Minnesota Dreadnought." Explained Sparatus as Sheppard let out a sigh.

"Ah…the Minnesota is a Missouri class battleships." explained Sheppard

"Different name same thing, how many Dreadnoughts do you have? Judging from the class name I assume you have a second one of these battleships you call them. So answer me this how many do you have?" inquired Sparatus as Sheppard looked at him in amazement, like he would tell him how many battleships they had. In truth on top of his head Sheppard didn't have an answer for him, the Prometheus expedition had left with only 16 battleships and 12 carries but each Tau'ri fleet normally had 24 battleships along with an almost equal number carries spread out across their area of operations. With an estimated 100,000 Ha'tak class ship spread out across the Milky Way with more being built and the threat that some group might finally be able to reorganize the warring Ori galaxy to launch an attack the shipyards of Vahalla had yet to stop building the large ships. Then there was the new flagship of the Tau'ri being built on Vahalla as well. The Tau'ri battleship was the heart of the space battle doctrine, task forces always had one battleships and larger groups had at least a single battleship escorting a carrier. For the Tau'ri and with hundreds of thousands of Ha'tak class ships, which one on one was no match for a single Battleship but in large groups where they had never stopped making the ships.

"Councilman Sparatus, this isn't the time to talk about that, time like that will come but it isn't here it isn't now." Countered Tevos as Sparatus let out a sigh and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Since the Turian Hierarchy is the military strength of Citadel space is it amazing that the sudden appearance of a dreadnought would be of great concern to us." explained Sparatus talking to each other like it didn't matter that the Tau'ri where there.

"While I agree with Councilman Sparatus that this is an important issue, this isn't the time or place to discuss the situation involving the Tau'ri Dreadnought Minnesota it is a time to welcome them to the greater galaxy." said Valern before turning toward Sheppard. "So Major welcome to the Citadel, please forgive Council man Sparatus, Turians have a strong military tradition and they find a new dreadnought in Council space worry some. We don't know how much of space you claim and how much overlapping claims there will be there to deal with."

"We understand, there is a race of people we call Jaffa who have a strong military tradition as well. In their multiple nations one can find our best friends and allies and our worse enemies." Explained Sheppard

"Yes, where is home?" inquired Tevos as the Salarian kept going after information.

"The Tau'ri Alliance home world is Earth in the sol system." explained Sheppard "May I hand Spectre Vakarian a data card containing some holographic images of Earth and Tau'ri culture and Space?"

"You may." confirmed Tevos with a smile as Sheppard pulled out a data card and handed it back to Garrus. In truth it wasn't a data card more of a link between Sheppard's own computer and Garrus's omni-tool. This would allow Garrus to scan any item Sheppard would send and allow Garrus to upload the images to the nearby Council computer terminal.

It took a few moments, but a holographic image of a blue and green world appeared in the center of the room in the gap between the Council and Sheppard. It was a fairly normal world by the standards of the Citadel Council, maybe more water than most and the large single moon was odd. Overall it looked like a good enough world. What followed was a short video showing some Tau'ri art, culture and history. Each of the council members took something different from the video. For Council Man Valern it showed a species which had made an incredible jump in a short period of time, a song was playing in the back ground but they paid it little mind. For Sparatus his eyes narrowed when he saw a brief five second scene showing some of the Tau'ri fleet including what he believed to be three dreadnoughts, in truth there were only two battleships and a single carrier, but his eyes narrowed anyhow. For Tevos she enjoyed and was interested in some of the older buildings she saw on Earth as well as the architecture of Tau'ri cities most of all Atlantis.

Sheppard and the other Tau'ri stood back and watched as images of their nation was played to this Council members. Everything meant so much to them, it was images of home of their worlds, their people and everything they believed in. Over it all an instrumental version of the Tau'ri national anthem was being played. Ash found herself mouthing the words along with the music until finally it came to an end with an image of the flag with the Stargate on it and the home symbol for Earth.

 **On board the Prometheus the Senior Staff where for the most part half asleep or more then half had finally assembled.** Only five officers, mostly those who drew night duty that night where fully awake. Large amount of hot fresh coffee and after a quick call to the mess hall fresh bread was also brought up to the meeting room.

"A super gate? How is this possible?" inquired a Captain as a holographic image of the Citadel floated over the meeting table. It main section of focus, the gate itself was glowing yellow while the rest was a duel blue. "We dialed hundreds of gate addresses before we launched this expedition, none connected how can a super gate be here."

"We aren't sure but a theory given to us by Major Sheppard he believes that these Mass Relays are made from harvest Stargates by these Reapers." Explained a Colonel of intelligence as a second image of a Mass Effect Relay appeared. Moments later a third image, one of a cuttlefish looking ship with a label saying Reaper below it appeared on the table.

"Any proof?" inquired Rush his eyes still focus on the Citadel and the Super gate.

"No, but we are missing Stargates and according to local intelligence sources the only sources of Naquadah is in this Citadel which seems to be a super gate and in the relays." Explained the intelligence officer.

"Even so we can't take this on blind faith we need…" started Rush

"While we don't have any hard proof to support this theory it makes logical sense based off the limited evidence we have so far." countered Doctor McKay as he cut off Dr. Rush to defend the man who called him, Uncle Mckay.

"Alright we will consider that a working theory for the moment." stated Hackett as he took a drink from his coffee, it would wake him up and he needed it. "My question is how could a super gate be there? There is no sign of a black hole nearby, even the Ori used black holes to power their gates when they destroyed planets and whole systems to make them. So where is this one getting power?"

"Could it not be?" inquired McKay "Maybe the Ancients built a super gate in this galaxy, just like they built one near where Destiny currently is. This could be a test gate and then some other civilization found it and built this Citadel on it?"

"These arms do look like they could have been added onto the main Stargate ring." offered an engineer "It would be a monster of a task to do so but it could be done."

"So this Stargate doesn't work?" inquired a Military intelligence officer.

"I am not so sure about that." countered Rush as he picked up his computer pad and made a few moves highlighting the naquadah beams which came out of the side of the Stargate and went down the center of each of the arms of the Citadel. Like bones in an arm the beams of Naquadah ran from the very tip of each arm back to the ring. "What if these are power conduits?"

"They are labeled that." stated the engineer before rechecking his pad. "Looks like these…Salarain engineers proved that when they got to the Citadel after the Asari arrived. There are parts un mapped which is concerning, we need to look at this in greater detail."

"The ancients where always good at hiding stuff but the power supply for a super gate that would be too large to hide." stated McKay "So where is the power source, there has to be something power it."

"But what if…this Super gate is powered similar to Destiny." inquired Rush as he looked at the system which the Citadel called home, it was in a nebula but some of the light came from a few small distant stars.

"A solar powered super gate?" inquired the Military Adviser "Is such a thing even possible?"

"Theatrically yes." confirmed McKay "It wouldn't have the range of a Super gate powered by a black hole and the charge time needed to collect enough power to reach another galaxy would be in the hundreds of thousands of years but yes it is possible."

"And what if the gate's target wasn't another galaxy?" inquired Hackett as he placed his hand behind his back. "According to the intelligence gathered by the Garrus Vakarian about the threat of these Reapers they come every 50,000 years from the void between galaxies. Could they have a second super gate out there?"

"That would be a good place to hide a fleet." noted the Military Advisor as she looked at the massive void between galaxies.

"If they did, it would have to be at a point far enough away from the Torch Galaxy that it would fall into the address range for a neighboring galaxy." stated McKay as he ran a few numbers in his head and on his computer pad. "Similar to the old McKay/Carter Intergalactic Gate Bridge only with Super gates and no gates in between."

The image of the Citadel on the table disappeared being replaced with an image of the Torch galaxy, seconds later a circle of red appeared around the galaxy.

"Somewhere past that line any Gate would fall into the address network the next galaxy over." explained McKay before tapping again on his datapad. Part of that circle disappeared but only a small selection. "There, that is taking away the path we took here and the sensor sweeps by our drones and ships."

"Still a lot of room for a Stargate to hid and it doesn't even have to be on that line only past it." stated the Military Advisor "So our search area is massive, too big to search with any speed."

"It is on or maybe just past that line." countered Rush "50 thousand years would be about the time required to do a get enough power for gate activation but not enough to reach another galaxy. If you are intent on finding this rogue gate, look for any black holes in the void between galaxies, it would be needed to power the gate on that side."

"We have to find this Super gate, why wouldn't we?" inquired McKay

"Is there really a reason? Once we build our own super gate it would be the more advanced one and it would supersede this older Super gate just like Atlantis Stargates being newer supersede Milky Way galaxy gates if they are brought together." Explained Rush

"Does that work with super gates?" inquired Hackett

"No one really knows, we never tried this. If we tried to build our own super gate back home the free Jaffa and Lucian alliance nations wouldn't be happy for sure and they may actually go to war for us to prevent us from having total control over the Milky Way Super gate. We are just able to convince them to keep the ORI one up and going but…it is likely. This gate appears to be much older, so in theory it should work." admitted McKay "We could also disable this gate somehow and make our super gate the only one that would work in this galaxy."

"Alright for the moment we will keep carrying out our mission." stated Hackett "We will arrive and assemble our super gate, we already have the parts and like Dr. Mckay said we can always disable the Citadel gate."

"Why not use the Citadel gate and modify it for our uses?" inquired the Intelligence officer.

"I wouldn't want to be in a city when a Super gate opens up in the heart of the city." countered the engineer officer "We would also have to move the Citadel on top of modifying it. It would be easier to just assembly our gate and disable that gate."

"Very well. Dr. McKay and Dr. Rush I want you and your teams to keep looking into this." said Hackett before turning toward a military advisor. "I want your team to look into these Reapers according to intelligence from the Citadel Races they could show up at any time and we need to be ready if we have to be."

"Yes, sir." confirmed the Officer as the two doctors nodded their heads in agreement.

"Dismissed." stated Hackett as the meeting began to break up. Hackett knew what would happen for most of the officers, they would now wake up those staff under them and give them the task he had assigned them while they went back to bed. They would get a few more hours of sleep before waking up and joining the tired but younger staff to carry on the work. That was how it always worked, it was what Staff and younger staff at that was used for. For him however he headed back to his bridge side office, he wasn't the type of person who could fall asleep once he had his coffee so he would relax a bit and read some reports while the people under him did their jobs.

 **After the short video giving a broad overview there came a longer video explaining more in detail the history of the Tau'ri including voice over.** It covered the basics, like the Goa'uld taking early humans from Earth using them as slave labor. Earth rebelling and then once space travel was reached, odmitted the parts about the Stargate the people of Earth began to fight the Goa'uld. It showed some of their allies and the enemies of the Tau'ri, the Asgard, Jaffa, Tok'ra the Nox and without visually showing them the Ancients where all shown. While the Goa'uld, the Wraith, the Ori and the Replicators all made a brief appearance. When the video stopped everyone was still for a moment then Valern cleared his voice.

"Excuses me but I take issue with this you claim to be explores but yet you have not made contact with any member of the Citadel before now. The Goa'uld, Wraith and others have made contact with us either. This leads me to fear that you are not good explores or you are just lying to us." Stated Valern

Torren grinned a little as he took a deep breath.

"Council man Valern, show respect to our guests." ordered Tevos, this was getting out of control, it didn't help that the Tau'ri where not acting like any other race had done since arriving at the Citadel. They didn't seem blown away by the Citadel, they didn't come before the Council as if they where second class civilizations looking to join. No they acted like they were equals to the Council of the great races. Even in the Council's desperate hours in the Krogran Rebellion the Turians who first arrived at the Citadel where amazed by it and those who already called it home, the Tau'ri weren't impressed. Tevos could already see that was going to be trouble with the other races of the galaxy.

"That is very alright, I understand your confusion about where our people come from and why you haven't heard of us before." explained Torren "Before we share with you that we wish to settle a border issue."

"How can we agree to any border when we don't know the military importance of said area." stated Sparatus

"Believe me the Tau'ri have no interest in your military or interfering with your affairs, we only want to establish a base and trading outpost in one of a couple systems." stated Miranda

"We will even let you decide which one is acceptable." added Torren "We do have a favorite but we will move if it helps you."

"Only a single system? You only care about a single system of space?" inquired Tevos as she found that amazing.

"I assume that the rest of your claimed space is far away from Citadel space and you confirmed this by overlaying our space with your own claims." stated Valern as this meeting was heading in almost the opposite direction that was planned. It didn't help that the Tau'ri didn't seam as amazed by the Citadel and the Council, they were acting as if they were the equal to the council and that the Citadel while impressive wasn't the most amazing thing in the galaxy.

"Yes." Confirmed Sheppard as he tapped on his computer as the holographic display changed. Within moments a display of the galaxy appeared including the borders of each civilization and the unexplored areas of the galaxy. Within that space at least a dozen spots became highlighted in different colors. They where spread out all over the galaxy with the only thing in common being that it was near either a large black hole or multiple smaller ones.

"Either of these systems will be acceptable to the Tau'ri however this one here is the one we would prefer." explained Sheppard as one of them zoomed in to show the area the Tau'ri wanted. It was a single star system with a barren almost lifeless world with a couple small gas giants around it and going off the council's own mineralogical information it had no maternal of any great worth. What was strange was instead of centering the circle of space they wanted around this system it extended out to a nearby reign of space which had multiple black holes. It was Sparatus who spoke up first.

"None of these systems have anything of worth why would your people want them?" inquired Sparatus

"Or better yet why only one?" inquired Valern "It holds nothing that will gain you of anything, it is worthless. It is even too far away from a relay to be of any worth."

"Then you will not miss it." added Ashley as the council members looked at her and then at each other.

"We will take this under advisement, in the mean time we have prepared a welcoming meal with examples of food from across the Citadel Space." stated Teves "However before we do that there is one thing that must be done."

With that a small pillar about waist high came out of the flooring in front of Sheppard, it was about a foot square with a sloped front with a pad on it. Once it reached its max height it began to glow blue, as the Tau'ri eyes widened. Along the sides and the top was a design know very well by most Tau'ri and by both Torren and Sam, having seen it almost everywhere in Atlantis.

"This is a DNA scanner." explained Valern "It will update the Citadel's computer with your species DNA allowing the Keepers to better prepare living quarters for your people when they come to the Citadel, there is nothing to fear from the scan."

The Tau'ri shared a look between each other, they where trapped and they knew it. Slowly Sheppard walked up and placed his hand on the panel, it glowed a bit brighter which caused Liara and a few others to noticed this after a while the when the glow died and Sheppard pulled his hand back. They felt everything was done.

"Please the more samples the better the Keepers will get your living areas just the way you want them." stated Tevos as Ash moved forward, it glowed a bit as well but died away. Followed by Miranda which was a repeat of the process and then all eyes fell on Sam. She let out a sigh and moved toward the pillar.

"Be ready for anything." whispered Sam to Torren as she put her hand on the pillar, suddenly the blue light coming from the panels became intense, so intense that it actually caused people in the crowd to shield their eyes. Then the light faded and for a second nothing happened, then out of the ceiling dropped five rings which was about the size of a single person. The rings dropped down at an extremely high rate of speed surrounding same. Seconds after they did another blinding flash of light as she disappeared leaving the rings hovering in the air for a few seconds before they shot back up into the ceiling.

"Damn thing had to be testing for the ATA gene, I have the artificial version and I bet so do you two." stated Miranda as she looked at Ashley and Torren. "You saw how it reacted to us, it glowed but not as much as Sam."

"I don't." admitted Torren, he had gotten the Wraith gene from his mother. In his sister Elizabeth, she had a strong ATA gene from her father which had overpowered whatever Wraith DNA she had picked up from their mother. They had tried to give him the ATA gene artificially with gene theory but the Wraith DNA in his body from one of ancestor being experiment one by the Wraith had prevented the therapy from working. It may not have been totally the wraith gene, there was about 10% rejection rate for the theory but it was still likely the Wraith gene within him because his mother Teyla had a failed therapy as well.

"Sir!" stated one of the honor guard as Torren looked over his shoulder toward the crowd, he could see a lot of very stunned faces and a few of those faces belonged to officers rushing forward with rifles in their hands.

"Shit." cursed Torren as multiple rifles and pistols where leveled at them.

 **For Dr. Samantha O'Neill the flash of blinding light began to fade she found herself in a pitch-black room.** The air was still and stale like a room that had been sealed off for far too long, a long pause passed and then the room began to fill with light. Lights built into the wall running around the sides began to turn on. Some of the lights where out but still more then enough for her to see what was around her, for a second she thought she was a child again being shoed out of Atlantis's control room by either one of her parents or Torren's parents and their team whenever they ran in while playing. The room had a very similiter set up with multiple control panels and computer terminals covered with a plastic covering to avoid dust.

"Teach me for having the ATA gene." complained Sam as she looked at where it had brought her. Among the Tau'ri being born with the ATA gene or the Ancient Gene was seen as a great gift and a massive leg up in the new system. With the ATA gene most of all one as strong as the one she had gotten from her father, she could run ancient technology with ease and the Tau'ri technology based off those designs where cake for her as well. They had gene therapy to give people the ATA gene but it was never as strong as a natural gene. Some of the most advanced and deadly Ancient Technology wouldn't work right without a strong ATA gene and she had among the strongest natural gene.

She moved toward one pulling on a quick release panel as the plastic fell away. The computer before her looked similar to the ones she had seen in Atlantis but much older, the first thing that jumped out was that the keys where old fashion press down keys not touch keys like Atlantis or holographic ones.

Even the screens where built in place monitors not holographic displays, everything was in Ancient and another she had never seen before. This was an Ancient computer for sure, she looked around to see four more computers and what looked to be an interface chair sitting in the center of the room. At the far end of the room was a short hallway with a door at the end.

"Well, lets see where I am." stated Sam to herself as she walked forward and ran her hand over the door scanner. It opened with a snap to show another hallway, this one long and pitch black as well. Seconds after the door opened the lights turned on to show a bug like figure at the far end of the hall, one of the Citadel Keepers. It passed by without noticing her but moments later a second one appeared and it's head turned toward her and it stopped and looked at her. For a moment nothing happened and then it rushed forward at lightning speed. A scream filled the air as it came forward only to have multiple tubes along the wall open up as glowing mini drones fired out tearing the Keeper apart. Sam jumped back as the door began to close as another Keeper charged forward only to be cut down by the drones.

"Defense program activated." said a computer voice from behind her as Sam turned and headed back into the control room. A slight hum filling the air as she did so, she knew that humming sound, that was a shield going up.

"Ok can you hear me?" inquired Sam

"I can, yes." confirmed the voice

"Are you an AI left by the Ancients." inquired Sam

"No, I was not built by the Ancients as you call them but once I read your DNA I knew you were descended from them and the video showed you made contact with the great races of the Asgard and the Nox." Explained the AI "Sorry my name is hard to translate into your language however most of the other races in the different cycles of this galaxy I have observed since I was installed have called me the Catalysis."

"Catalysis?" inquired Sam as she moved back into the center of the room.

"Yes, they believed that I was the last piece in a project that could stop the Reapers the Crucible they called it." stated the Catalysis "Foolish, the Reapers had started the designs of the Crucible as a false hope so that the species they where harvesting would focus on that instead of other better weapons. My designers placed me here to make sure that the Reapers could never get full control over this Stargate and expand outside the galaxy. That is my goal and my mission."

"Where am I and who built you?" inquired Sam as suddenly the back wall became illumined as a window appeared. It looked out into a larger control room similar to the set up of the old and current Stargate command with a second level which had more controls.

"You are in the main control room for this super gate located deep inside the Citadel itself. As for who built me. I was built in a joint effort by the Ancients and the race you know as the Keepers. They are the one who I just killed to make sure they didn't get into this room and carry out the will of their new masters." stated the AI "You may know them better as the Furlings."

 **Well I hope you liked this chapter and the little twist I put in, I know this is a slightly shorter then normal chapter but it was either have a shorter chapter and get it done and out to you or wait till after I get back from vacation. Also I really wanted to end it with the reveal of the Keepers and the Furlings being one and the same, now I know some may wonder how the Keepers can be the Furlings and I will explain that in time. Now until next time, Wilkins75.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Sorry for the long delay, I really enjoyed my vacation but didn't get as much writing done as I would like. And then I came back to suddenly a 65 to 70 hour work week, because we lost two people leaving us with 3 people in my department total. (One quit without giving two weeks and another was put on bed rest a whole month ahead of when she thought it would happen) Throw on top a new rush project which had to be put in ahead of schedule and at night to avoid a shut down so I went from Day shift to night shift on top of everything and you kill a lot of my free time. I will do my best to keep updating normally and hopefully I will not rewrite chapters 5 times like I did with this one. So enjoy, Wilkins75.**

 **Chapter 8 A Tricky Situation**

For the longest time no one moved, as Major Torran Sheppard and the other Tau'ri looked around at the C-Sec officers who had weapons pointed right at them in the middle of the Citadel Council Chamber. Torran like every Tau'ri and Council race knew the Tau'ri where currently in a no win situation, they had no firearms, no armor and the only things that really passed as weapons where two unloaded bolt action rifles with bayonets and a sword hanging from his hip. On top of that those three blades had rounded blunted edges that would work in spreading butter but nothing more than that. In sense they where basically helpless, maybe the rifles and the flag pole carried by another officer could be used as clubs but against guns they wouldn't last long. The only option they had to escape would be a beam out back to the Normandy. From there they would have to break away from the dock, likely taking a docking clamp or two with them. Then cloaking, that they could do and it was the only move the Tau'ri had to get out alive. Just as Sheppard was reaching for his wrist mounted computer to press a crash button which would tell the Normandy to beam everyone else now did a voice yell out.

"Stand down!" yelled Garrus as he stepped between the Tau'ri and the C-Sec officers, this caused Sheppard to stop his finger hovering just above the crush button.

"You have no right to order them around here." counted Councilman Sparatus as he looked toward one of the officers. "Arrest them and take them for questioning, start a search for the other one!"

"Wait!" yelled Liara as she moved forward raising a hand toward the C-sec officers, before turning toward the Council. The council for their part was glaring at the two of them with Sparatus nearing the point of yelling at them. "This doesn't make any sense, they didn't even want to touch the scanner. There was no way they could have known it would have done that."

"Also those ring things descended from the roof of this chamber how could they have done that?" inquired Mordin as he moved forward, it was this fact that for the first time the Council members mostly Tevos and Valern seemed to soften however Sparatus remained hardened.

"That point is well made." Confirmed Valern as he looked at Mordin before looking at his fellow council member Sparatus. Unlike the other two he hadn't soften or seamed to admit that the point raised by Mordin was worthy of consideration. "There is no way the Tau'ri could done that."

"I agree." confirmed Tevos as she raised her hand so that all the C-sec officers looked at her. She was the senior member of the Council and in fact the Asari where always the head of the Council so her power overruled any single one of the other Council members. Now if both the Salarian and Turrian council members together could overrule the Asari council member but in the History of the Council that had never happened. "Stand down. We need to find out what happened and why."

Sheppard pulled his hand away from the crash button and looked around, Sparatus only glared at this fellow council members. For a moment nothing happened then after crossing his arms turned back to look at the Tau'ri and then to the C-Sec officers. Reached for his Omni-tool and sent out a message to the others officers as a full scale search began for Sam.

"Clear the council chambers." ordered Sparatus with anger still in his voice. "Find the missing Tau'ri, cut the broadcasts."

With that the broadcast was cut and the council chamber began to clear out, not fully the Council themselves remained and so did the ambassadors, along with dozens of C-Sec officers all of whom now had their weapons out in the open.

 **The sudden disappearance of Dr. Samantha O'Neill the daughter of Colonel O'Neill Jr., the granddaughter of the late General O'Neill and the God daughter of the President of the Tau'ri Samantha Carter wasn't taken lightly by Admiral Hackett.** He stood over a holographic command table in the heart of the Prometheus. He had already ordered Dr. McKay up from his labs to look over the video, not that there was much to see. A ring transporter came down and took her away, likely to some place within this Citadel itself. He had watched as the military forces of the Citadel council had moved in to arrest his people only to be stopped by one of their own convincing them that there was no way that the Tau'ri could have done it. Still this was a major concern, he couldn't risk them taking the Normandy and he didn't want to start a war with the Citadel Council either. He was at the end of a very long supply chain, that would be solved once the supergate was online but still it wasn't something he wanted nor anyone within the Tau'ri.

The sound of the door opening caused him to lift his head up from the table to see Dr. Jackson walking into the room. While Hackett was in command of all military personal, it was Doctor Jackson who was the head of the entire mission. It was to be him who would open official diplomat relations with the people of this galaxy, Sheppard and his team were just going to be the first group. The team who set everything up and settle some small issues before the main diplomats arrived.

"You saw it." said Daniel as Hackett nodded his head.

"We got word from the Normandy, they have her location within the Citadel however the area is shielded, and they can't get a lock." stated Hackett as Daniel nodded his head. "Sir, I know I am only the head of military personal however I request that you prepare to transfer over to the Prince of Wales."

"Why?" inquired Daniel as Hackett pulled up a holographic map of the galaxy, it showed the current location of the Prometheus task force as well as their destination. They where still a few hours out however another dot illumined the map. It was closer but still a little bit out of the way.

"I can't risk the Prometheus and the bulk of the fleet to get Dr. O'Neill back but still we can't just sit by hope they don't make a move against the Normandy and its crew." Stated Hackett "So I will take the bulk of the fleet to the concretion area, you will go to carry out a little bit of gunboat diplomacy."

Daniel let out a sigh, he knew what that meant and knew that it was likely the best move no matter how much he didn't like it.

"How many ships?" inquired Daniel as Hackett grinned.

"Judging from the broadcast they freaked out when they saw a single one of our battleships, let's see how they handle 7 battleships and 3 carriers all in the same spot." Stated Hackett, both he and Daniel knew that there was only 16 battleships and 12 carriers in the whole task force so they where risking a large percentage of their full force in a display of power. "Given the information from the Normandy the Citadel fleet only has three ship on a scale similar to our battleships with one from each of their main races. Across their whole fleets there is only a grand total of 76 Dreadnought warships across the entire Citadel Space. There are some others split up among the other powers in this galaxy but still imagine what we would do now with only 76 battleships and carriers."

"I remember when the first Prometheus was being designed." added Daniel, he knew that the number of Tau'ri battleships and carriers where nearing the 200 mark. It was tiny compared to the thousands of Ha'tak class ships which was the backbone of every other power. This was countered by the fact that a single Tau'ri battleship could take down over two dozen Ha'tak class by itself in a straight fight and the Tau'ri where every upgrading their ships unlike the other powers like the Jaffa and Lucian Alliance. Thousands of years under the Goa'uld meant that while they could construct the technology their false gods and slave masters used didn't mean they understood how it worked. The bulk of the people couldn't even write their own name yet alone understand how to improve the technology. The galaxy was getting better thanks to free galactic schools on worlds set up by the Tau'ri for children from different worlds to attend school with the best of the best getting free rides to Tau'ri colleges. Still it would be decades before any real advancements could be seen. "Still I am not fully behind this, we should try to talk to them first before we scare them to death."

"And we will, hopefully Sheppard and his people will talk them down and if they do your group will stay back and await the all clear to send in a ship to allow you to make first contact." stated Hackett "if not let's hope scaring them to death will make them rethink anything they did to our people. I have already drawn up an arrival plan that should do the trick. Let's hope you don't have to use it."

"Let's hope everyone on both sides gets out of this ok, I am tired of first contacts devolving into shooting matches." added Dr. Jackson, he had seen too many battles and he didn't care to see anymore if he didn't have to.

"So am I." confirmed Hackett "But I get paid to plan for the worse outcome, not the best."

 **Doctor Samantha O'Neill just stood there for a moment, in the Ancient command center for this supergate.** The fact that the supergate had a command center hinted that the gate was extremely old, the ORI supergate and the Tau'ri supergate design didn't have command centers. She looked at the source of the voice which had introduced himself or herself as an AI called the Catalyst.

"You were made by the Ancients and the Furlings?" inquired Sam as a shimmer of light filled one corner of the room. She turned to face it only to see the image of one of those Keepers who she had seen while they moved through the Citadel. It was lacking the orange vest or pack on its back, instead it was dressed in what looked like a cross between a large blanket and a robe. With four legs and thin insect like body it was bond to be different then human clothing. There was also no backpack and even though it was a projection Sam thought she could see life in those eyes unlike the Keepers she had seen.

"Yes, I was brought online during the final days of the Furling Reaper war with the help of the Ancients to make sure that the Reapers didn't gain control of this Stargate and the network as a whole." Explained the Catalyst.

"So your job was to make sure these Reapers didn't gain control of the supergate?" inquired Sam

"Correct." Confirmed Catalyst as it tilted his head in a look that almost reminded Sam of a knowing smirk, however it didn't have lips that curved upwards into a smirk. "I can assume you are wondering why the Ancients or the Furlings didn't just destroy the gate instead of putting in an AI?"

"That has crossed my mind." Confirmed Sam

"To explain that, I must explain how the Reapers operated before they constructed the Supergate." Explained Catalyst

"Before that," interrupted Sam "Where am I?"

"You are in the control room of the Supergate from here one can dial the gate and control its functions. A level below us is the power chamber but the Ancients took the power crystals to limit the range the Supergate could reach." explained the Catalyst as Sam nodded her head, it was strange. They hadn't found any control rooms in the supergate the Ancients had built along Destiny's flight path. It was that supergate that the Tau'ri planned to contact with from this galaxy. Her eyes widened as she remembered that the Ancients used this galaxy to test out their key ships which would build stargate networks, why wouldn't they test out building a supergate as well.

"So this must be a prototype for the Destiny mission." Said Sam as the Catalyst titled its head to an angle that would have been very painful for any human.

"So you are aware of the Destiny mission?" inquired the Catalyst which Sam nodded her answer.

"Yes, this was a prototype for that, it was later modified during the war. From here the Ancients and the Furlings controlled the entire gate network in this galaxy." explained the Catalyst "Well you used to be able to, after the war the Reapers collected the stargates to make their Mass Relays. Now I just make sure they can't gain full control over this supergate and I monitor the cycles of harvest by the Reapers. You actually arrived after the next harvest was delayed. Going off my estimates if it hadn't been delayed you likely would have arrived at the either the middle or near the end of the harvest."

"I see." said Sam as she looked toward the door. "You said something about the Keepers being Furlings correct?"

"That is correct." confirmed the Catalyst before lowering his head. "They are all that is left of the greatest power this galaxy has ever seen."

"But yet you say the Reapers harvest advance life why didn't they harvest the Furlings?" inquired Sam as the holographic of the Keeper/Furling disappeared replaced with a cuttlefish looking ship.

"This is a Reaper, they where the most advanced life in this galaxy for an estimated 500 million years. The Ancients believed based on their design that they must have been made by or from a Race called Leviathans who called this galaxy home when the Ancients first sent their gate ships through." Explained the Catalyst "The Ancients actually made first contact with the Leviathans however their relationship didn't developed because of the arrogance of the Leviathans. What mattered was that the Reapers would harvest advance life and use their biomass to make a ship containing the collective knowledge of that race. They would make at least one Dreadnought class ship from each race and depending on the spread of a race dozens to at most a hundred smaller ships."

Sam studied the image of the ships, the Catalyst even had blueprints of the ships. Sam was no ship designer but she spotted at once that the ships had no hyperdrive.

"How did they spread? It has no hyperdrive? It is too big to fit through a normal stargate?" inquired Sam "Or had they already taken the Stargates to make those Relays?"

"So you believe that the Reapers made the Relays?" inquired the Catalyst as Sam nodded her head. "You are technically right but I will explain that later, no they had no FTL besides the type the Races of this galaxy have with Element Zero. On it's own it is about as fast as Ancient hyperdrive and those among the alliance of Races, however the range is limited because of the need to carry element zero in large amounts to lower the mass of the ship for the engines to push at high speeds. The greatest weapon the Reapers have is indoctrination. All Reapers have a field in which they can indoctrination and bend the mind of weaker members of Races to their will. They turned the populous of worlds they were harvesting to their will. Once a large amount of people where converted into warriors they would convert them into soldiers and send them through the Stargate to take over new worlds. They would turn the rest of the population into biomass which was used to make new Reaper ships."

"So they would whip the galaxy clean of life?" inquired Sam

"No, they would spare those races who hadn't advanced far enough to be a threat." Explained the Catalyst "There would always be survivors from their conquest and they planned on it. It would allow the less advance races to advance rapidly as they got technology from the races who had been harvested for the most part. It speed up the process and allowed them to keep growing their forces to an even increasing numbers."

That was when a smirk crossed Catalyst face.

"However this came back to haunt them when it came to use the Furlings." Stated the Catalyst "We not only made contact with one of the most advanced races the Reapers had ever encounter before they were harvested but in the dying message of one of their last scientist he revealed the stargate address to a barren lifeless world where a crashed Ancient gate ship was located."

The image changed to show a bunch of keepers working in what had to be spacesuits in conditions that looked like a purple version of Mars before the Terraforming. They were hard at work and what they where working on appeared to be a Seed ship, one of the ships sent out before Destiny to seed the galaxies with Stargates.

"The technology of the ship was far beyond anything we had ever seen and advanced our society to new levels." explained the Catalyst "It showed us that we needed Naquadah to truly advance to the next level, by using the very Naquadah in the hull of the Ancient ship we were able to make hyperdrives. That advancement would have been enough to make us the most powerful civilization ever in this galaxy, but the ship just kept giving and the most important one was a gate address to the world where the ship was launched."

A Stargate address appeared on the screen, took her a moment but she recognized the basic address for Earth. This took her aback for a moment, then she remembered that the Ancients had been based on Earth when they lived in their galaxy.

"This is the home address for the Ancient capital world." explained the Catalyst, unaware that the Ancients had left and that was the address for the Capital of the Tau'ri. "We journey there and made contact with the Ancients."

"And the Reaper's defeated the Furlings." inquired Sam as the Catalyst nodded his head. "So is their a Furling Reaper ship?"

"No the Reapers tried, however the Furling couldn't be turned into warriors because of a natural acid produced by the Furling body at the point of death. It made turning them into new Reapers an impossibility that along with their natural immunity to indoctrination meant that they were uniquely placed to stand against the Reapers." explained the Catalyst "In the entire history only two races have shown themselves to be fully resistant to the mental indoctrination of the Reapers, the Furlings and the Ancients themselves. Not even the Leviathans where fully immune to the process but those two races where."

"If that is the case when why are they working for the Reaper's now?" inquired Sam

"When the Reaper defeated the Furling's at the final battle of their war over their home world, they took the few survivors and did a fate worse than death. They couldn't control them the normal way so they but robotics parts in them and took over their bodies and trapped their minds making them into Keepers. They were then forced breed in massive farms to increase their numbers to carry out the labor needed to build the rest of the Citadel and then the Mass Effect relays, all of whom had their minds trapped and bodies controlled since birth." explained the Catalyst "The Keepers you have seen are descendants of those handful which lived. Their minds trapped, and their bodies enslaved and that was the fate the Reapers put on them because they stood against them."

"My God." whispered Sam as she realized what it meant. "So they are trapped inside their minds, seeing everything but not able to do anything."

"That is correct, however after so much time I believe that they are not the same civilization which arose to be the 4th race, they have no culture and no society. The Reapers took that all from them." explained the Catalyst "That was their punishment."

"How long ago was this?" inquired Sam

"500 million years ago." answered the Catalyst as Sam's eyes widened, for 500 million years an untold number of generations of the Furlings, the 4th race in the great alliance of races of which the Tau'ri where members had this done to them.

"Why didn't the Ancients or any other of the great races help?" inquired Sam "The Ancients would have whipped the floor with these Reapers."

"They likely would have sent help if they could have. The Furlings in a prolonged fight they could likely have done it by themselves." confirmed the Catalyst "However none of the Alliance where able to help much however a task force of four Ancients ships did fight in the final battle and bought the time needed for my installation and for me to take over the gate network. The Ancient ships where the only ships to fall back and escape the Reapers, the Furling fleet stayed behind to buy them time as they took our the secrets to our greatest accomplishment, this."

With that a holographic image of a ZPM appeared and Sam's eyes widened, everyone had assembled that it was the Ancients who had made the ZPMs but here she was looking at one and if this AI's claims where to be believed it was the Furlings not the Ancients who made it.

"Why…didn't they send a whole fleet?" inquired Sam

"They couldn't none of the Alliance could." stated the Catalyst "The Reapers timed their attack perfectly, a deadly virus had swept through the Alliance. Worlds in every galaxy the Ancients had dealings with which at the time numbered just under 50 where infected. Grand empires and civilization some of whom where on the path to becoming members of the Alliance of races and that had stood for thousands of years where falling either to the plague. Some civilization blew up whole planets if a single case of the plague was found. Even the members of the Alliance where devastated by the virus. Not even the Ancients themselves where immune and they too were brought low by the plague, almost dying out themselves. It was when the plague had finally seamed to run its course in this galaxy that the Reapers hit. With the population weakened by the plague the Reapers overrun the defenses of the Furlings until only a few worlds remained and even then we made them pay a greater price then any other civilization in this galaxy."

Sam swallowed as she remembered the stories from the history books and the lessons she only somewhat listened too in school. A massive plague had it the Ancients, Asgard, Nox and other powers in the galaxy millions of years ago. It had killed whole civilization, the ruins of which where explored by those who followed the dead civilizations among which where the Tau'ri.

"I need to contact my people." stated Sam

"Of course." Confirmed the Catalyst

 **While all this was going on in the command center things had gotten a little less tense in the Council Chamber.** It wasn't to say everyone had calmed down but the weapons had been lowered but could be snapped up at any moment.

"I want the room cleared of any unneeded personal." repeated Council Woman Tevos as the lower ranking officials began to file out the room and the live broadcast was cut. This was both a good thing and a bad thing for the Tau'ri, it meant that they could speak more freely with the higher ups in the government without dealing with the media. The bad part was that broadcast gave the Tau'ri a live look into the room and meant all they had now was the eyes of the men and women already in there. For the longest time no one spoke as they waited for the other officials to leave. The council, the guards and what seemed to be the ambassadors where all staying but the rest where leaving.

"Do not worry we will find out where your teammate left." reassured Liara as Torren nodded his head.

"Can I contact my ship?" inquired Sheppard

"No, not until we find the missing Tau'ri." Stated Sparatus as he glared down at Sheppard from his raised position.

"Ok, I am sure they have her location already." stated Torran knowing full well that Sam like every other Tau'ri on his ship and in fact anyone who served in the military had a location transmitter located between the shoulder blade and the neck. It wasn't full proof, and the transmitter could be blocked but for the most part it allowed beam out of away teams and ship evacuations. Multiple lives had been saved by beaming out of crews from ships moments before they were to explode or beaming of wounded soldiers off battlefields, while not military Sam had one just like he had one.

"Well she has to be on the station." stated Miranda as everyone looked at her. "That is how ring transports work. Judging from the the quick look I saw and the number of rings I can guess the model and the distance it could have traveled is limited to basically the station itself."

"So you have seen something like this before." stated Valern as Sheppard nodded his head.

"We call them Ring Transporters, there has to be another ring set somewhere else on the station." stated Sheppard as he looked toward Miranda who walked over to the podium which was still standing and knelt down beside it. With skill she found the release panel and opened it showing the data chips within, unlike the Ancient computers he was used to this one along with clear crystal chips also had crystals similar to Goa'uld designs.

"Stop what you are doing." ordered Tevos

"Do you want to find her or not?" said Miranda turning her back on the council woman as she took one of the chip and looked at if for a second before moving her hand over it, a faint light covered the chip as her arm mounted computer scanned it. Seconds later the read out appeared on her screen. "Alright, I got the base code. Looks like I was correct, it is a 4th generation transport hasn't seen one of those outside of the records. Only a step above the Goa'uld version and nothing compared to the civilization models we have now not to mention the other forms of teleportation."

"Glad to know." confirmed Sheppard as the council looked on him amazement, the Tau'ri where talking about teleportation like it was common normal part of life. All of them where asking the same question to themselves, who were these Tau'ri.

"May I see." Said Mordin as he pushed forward to her side, now that a council member race member was by her side the Council didn't attempt to stop her. Even so they wondered how the Tau'ri had been able to open the panel with so much ease, it wasn't a standard design and any attempts to open it before had been stopped when the podium had retreated back and couldn't be reached. In this case the Tau'ri had opened it with ease and it hadn't retracted back instead it remained out. The first contact was going down a very strange route, in every first contact that the Citadel had it had followed the same basic formula. The new species amazed by the Citadel and the power that the Council had would be very respectful and in the case of Hanar they had bowed when they learned that the Protheans had built it. Then their DNA was scanned and the process of integrating the new comers into Citadel Space could begin. Not here, not now and now with the Tau'ri, they weren't acting like any species they had ever come across.

While everyone stood around for a moment in silence allowing Miranda and Mordin to look at the base code. Liara pushed forward toward the other Tau'ri, she stopped in front of Sheppard.

"Don't worry we will find her." said Liara with a reassuring smile.

"I know we will." confirmed Sheppard, he hadn't heard back from the Normandy but they had seen Sam disappear in a ring transporter over a live broadcast. The Normandy had to be either found her or was in the process of finding her.

"If I may ask, that panel how did you open it so quickly?" inquired Garrus as he moved forward as well. The question actually made the Sheppard blink as they looked at him in confusion. "It is just from what I know that panel is hard to get off and the release points are strange."

"Strange?" inquired Torren as he raised an eyebrow before looking toward the control panel which was open for all to see. It didn't look strange to him, he had dealt with panels like that since he was a kid when he was in Atlantis. If anything he had trouble with the older pre-stargate panels and technology from Earth. Before him was the standard design that the Ancients used, it had been adopted later by the Goa'uld and then later by the Tau'ri before the Stargate was revealed. It was what every civilian and military product used for over 20 years from the control panels on a battleship to an Xbox 9 everyone used it. "I have panels like that on TV set. It is our standard set up."

"Well that is only really because the Ancients had that set up." Countered Miranda as she read the data before her. It was much easier for her then it was for Mordin, because some of the program was in Ancient and being an expert on Ancient technology she could read, write and speak ancient. "Major, it looks like it scanned DNA, once it detected the ATA gene a computer subroutine was activated and the rings where activated."

"Not that surprising." confirmed Torren as everyone looked at the Tau'ri not fully understanding what was being said.

"ATA gene?" inquired Liara

"There was a race, we generally call them the Ancients." explained Ashley, in truth the Ancients had a lot of different names but Ancients was the most common. "Their technology is activated by genes and in the ancient past they had children with humans, so some humans carry the gene."

"And the ATA gene is this gene that the Ancients as you call them used to activate their technology?" inquired Liara as Ashley nodded.

"Sam has a strong natural gene, among the strongest actually but a lot of Tau'ri go through gene therapy to get the gene but natural gene is still stronger." added Sheppard, he didn't add that he was in a minority of about 7% of the population which couldn't accept the gene theory, maybe it was the just his luck his mother couldn't get the gene either but his younger sister Elizabeth had a strong natural gene thanks to her father, John. Some of the doctors in Atlantis believed it might be because of the Wraith DNA in his system.

"We call them Protheans. They are the most advanced race we know about." Explained Liara causing Sheppard and the other Tau'ri looked at them.

"Could that explain that glow we saw? The DNA scanner was detecting Prothean DNA and detected it within the Tau'ri and activated that transporter?" inquired Garrus as several in the council shifted a bit as they thought about it.

"It is possible the Prothean disappeared 50,000 years ago, no one is sure why. Maybe some of their DNA got mixed in with the Tau'ri ancestors." Confirmed Tevos as the Tau'ri looked at her, even Garrus and his team rolled their eyes. Not at the idea of the Protheans being Ancients but the line that no one knew what happened to the Protheans. The council knew about the Reapers but was slow to realize the threat and that they had destroyed the Protheans. "Maybe a study of the Tau'ri ancient history will allow us to find out what happened to Protheans."

"They have the blood of the Enkindlers." Said a strange voice as Sheppard and the other Tau'ri looked toward the balcony where the Ambassadors where. It was impossible for them to know who had spoken at first but judging from the looks everyone else seamed to look at a jellyfish looking alien it was likely him. The Tau'ri thought it was him who had spoke but it was confirmed when the alien spoke up again. "How is such a thing possible? They do not look like any image of the Enkindlers."

"Major, maybe it is time to stop beating around the bush and just tell them?" advised Miranda as Sheppard nodded his head as all eyes turned toward him.

"Alright, there is no gentle way to say but it is next to impossible that your Protheans and the Ancients are the same thing, the Ancients look just like us. Hell they were the first evolution of this form, we are the second and besides they aren't from this galaxy just like we aren't." Stated Sheppard as everyone blinked. "That is why you haven't made contact with us before or any other race we have mentioned. You haven't met them because your civilization hasn't mastered intergalactic travel."

"Not that many species we have meet can travel the vast distance between galaxies with ease." Added Miranda "Besides the Ancients, Asgard and Nox who else has really done it and the Nox don't do it anymore."

"Well the ORI did it and so did the Wraith." countered Ashley

"You have a point with the ORI but the Wraith was a special case, I wouldn't call it common." Countered Miranda she didn't add that most standard hyperdrives aren't capable of traveling between galaxies, only military grade ones are. "I am sure there are other civilizations in the universe who can do it who we haven't made contact with them yet."

"The Ancients are not your Protheans, as far as we know at least." restated Sheppard as he remembered all the different names that people across multiple galaxies had for the Ancients. "From what we have gathered from the Ancient databases they passed through this galaxy just under a billion years ago."

There was a long pause as everyone just looked at him and the other Tau'ri.

"You expect us to believe that you know of some race which passed through our galaxy a billion years ago?" stated Tevos

"Yes, madam council woman we are, as for proof this will be a start." stated Sheppard took that moment of confusion to move his hand to his wrist mounted computer, it was still linked with Garrus's Omi-tool which itself was linked to the Citadel council computer display. He tapped in a few keys as a holographic image of the a galaxy appeared. To the Citadel council it was kind of strange, it was clearly a spiral galaxy which was similar to their own but it seemed to be spinning the opposite way of the common way to portray their galaxy.

"This is the Milky Way galaxy our home galaxy." explained Sheppard, before anyone could go on the image of the galaxy changed to show an overlay of the current borders of the major powers in the Milky Way galaxy. Tau'ri Space was labeled in a deep blue with multiple other powers in different colors to make them standout, however it was clear to the naked eye that Tau'ri controlled about a third of the galaxy.

"This is the current borders within the Milky Way galaxy and here is the borders once the Pegasus Galaxy is added." explained Sheppard as the image zoomed out to show the Pegasus Galaxy. The overlay of the borders here was more complex, aside from some groups of nomadic people using Ancient ships to stay ahead of the Wraith there wasn't many civilizations which where space born. The Wraith had done a number on the population of that galaxy, some worlds only had a hundred or so people after the Wraith had feed on them. The Tau'ri were the only power of note, the rogue Asgard tribe and turned and ran outside the galaxy when the Wraith where defeated. The going theory was that their leaders believed that the Tau'ri would descend on them for their experiments on humans to keep themselves alive. Some even theorized that they headed toward the ORI galaxy to experiment on the humans there. With them gone the Tau'ri where the undisputed space born power in that galaxy. Still they didn't claim control over that galaxy only the area of space around their major worlds and outposts. The sight of the area of control claimed by the Tau'ri took the Citadel aback, they didn't want to believe the claims of the Tau'ri and it was about to get worse.

The image zoomed out again to show at least two dozen galaxies spread out around the center galaxy where the Tau'ri claimed they were from. One of those galaxies, one on the edge away from the Center galaxy of the Milky Way and an even greater distance away from the Pegasus galaxy became highlighted in a different color.

"That is the ORI galaxy, another power we have made contact with." Stated Sheppard, not adding the intergalactic war and the current civil wars which where simmering in that galaxy. The image kept zooming out and out until finally it stopped and the Galaxy the Council did recognize appeared. The area of that galaxy became highlighted in the multiple colors to mark the borders of the Citadel Powers. "This is your galaxy, as you can see we have no interest in claiming any of your space outside of a trading post. It is just too far away for us."

"And this." said Sheppard as the image kept zooming out and out until there was countless numbers of points of lights. "Is the current map of the known universe left behind by the Ancients on Destiny's computer system."

For a moment nothing happened and then Valern spoke up.

"You keep bring up the Ancients in your…let's call it claim who are they?" inquired Valern by the tone in his voice he didn't believe it. "The only hard evidence you have shown is what happened with that, Ring transporter as you call it. This claim of being from another galaxy is on the surface impossible the distance is too great."

"Well our hyperdrive systems are just as fast as your Mass Relays and we are not limited to just those relays we have freedom of movement." explained Sheppard as the Salarian Valern raised his hand to his chin, clearly doing the math in his head. He was in the middle of doing that math when suddenly the sound of doors opening caused Sheppard and the others to look up toward the roof. Once again, a hidden door opened, and rings began to descend, everyone jumped back as with a flash of light blinded everyone for a moment. When it faded Dr. Samantha O'Neill once again stood before the Citadel Council.

"Welcome back." said Torran in a semi-joking way "Where did you go?"

"To the control room." answered O'Neill "Some of the oldest Ancient computers we have ever seen and then there is this guy."

With a flicker a holographic image of a Keeper appeared before the Tau'ri and the Citadel races within the room.

"Greetings I am the Catalyst." stated the Holographic Keeper "I am the AI program left behind by the Furlings and the Ancients to monitor the Supergate and the Stargate network."

For the longest time no one spoke, even the Tau'ri where left speechless as they looked at the holograph before them.

"Furling?" inquired Sheppard as he spoke up first.

"Yes, the Furlings the 4th race in the Alliance of Races." stated the Catalyst "I am all that is really left of their civilization after their war with the Reapers, 500 million years ago."

"Sheppard, he says these Reapers are due back any moment." added Sam before an idea came to her, she turned to look at the Catalyst "You said you have been monitoring this station and the Stargate network before it was destroyed do you have data on the Reapers?"

"Of course." answered the Catalyst as out of the DNA scanner popped out a data card. Miranda quickly moved to take it. "On that is data on every Reaper ship class, their numbers and the battle techniques they use to harvest the advance life of this galaxy. They tend to follow a standardize pattern now that the Gate network as been replaced by the relays."

"However this cycle will be different." stated the Catalyst as he turned and looked at Garrus "I must admit I was really impressed with your work to delay the arrival of the Reaper fleet through the Supergate, however this means that their battle plan may change. Before they always started with their fleet arriving at the Citadel and establishing a base at the heart of the network. Then striking out at the major power home worlds and major worlds. Here they are coming from outside the galaxy, that will change things for sure."

"Wait…wait go back what is going on?" inquired Liara

"I was about to ask the same question." admitted Mordin

"You have information about the Reapers?" inquired Garrus as the AI keeper nodded his head as a second data card popped out of the DNA scanner.

"All yours a perfect copy of the data given to the Tau'ri, it is your galaxy after all." stated the Catalyst as once again the Citadel council and their races where loss not fully understanding the meaning of the words that the Tau'ri where saying.

"I am sure you have a lot of questions and I am more then willing to explain everything." stated the Catalyst "However first I will start with the basics, there was once 4 great races which came together to work together. The Nox, Asgard, the Furlings which you know as the Keepers and the greatest of them all the Ancients. This alliance which was spread out over 3 galaxies with the Ancients and the Nox sharing a single galaxy was yet united by the Hyperdrive systems used by each of the powers and a network of Stargates which served similar roles to what you know as Mass Effect Relays only it established wormholes between different planets allowing a person to walk from planet to planet."

Sheppard didn't say anything, however part of him wished he could stop the AI from talking about the Stargate. He was ordered not to inform them about the Stargate yet alone the supergate to the Citadel races but here this AI which could possibly be from the Furlings had just dropped the information about the Stargate as if it was nothing.

"Now, I am sure you are all wondering what a Stargate is…oh…no." said the Catalyst as he stopped mid sentence and focused on something in the distance.

"What?" inquired Sam

"I told you all I was designed to monitor all the stargates when the Reapers turned them into relays I maintained the ability to monitor the traffic of the relay network." explained the Catalyst "In truth I just gained access the Reaper monitoring system. I just detected a large group of ships entering the relay you know as the Harsa system."

"The Baratarin home system?" inquired Garrus as Liara nodded her head.

"Yes." confirmed the Catalyst "the ships have Reaper ID which means they get priority on the network and the faster speeds."

As a map of the whole mass effect network appeared in the room. It showed not only the known relays within Citadel Space but all the unmapped systems, it even showed life traffic within the network. A massive group of ships flashing red entered a relay near the outer edge of the galaxy. They where moving fast heading in a straight line to another relay. To the Tau'ri the relay network looked more like a large highway map with main routes and smaller less traveled routes. The one the Reapers where on now was a smaller route but they where heading toward the nearest hub and judging from the map from there they could strike out almost anywhere in the galaxy. Still there was only one place where he would go if he was in command of this operation, the heart of the network the Citadel itself.

"How long?" inquired Sheppard as he looked at Garrus, like him the Turian knew where the likely target would be.

"25 minutes" answered the Catalyst

 **Well I hope you liked this chapter, yes I am having the Reapers head toward the Citadel before they hit any other world beside the Baratian home world. One issue I had with ME3 was that the Reapers waited so long to hit the Citadel which is not only the heart of the network and where the different races meet to organize against the Reapers. So I am having them go to the Citadel, I hope that doesn't upset anyone too much. Now until next time please keep reading. Thanks Wilkins75.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9 The oncoming Storm**

The entire Council chamber was still as the news sunk in, Garrus's blood turned to ice, Liara's felt a chill run down her spin and Mordin was blinking so rapidly that it was actually hard for him to see. Among the Salarians that was something they did only when they where deadly afraid, among the Tau'ri who had only seen videos of these Reapers the hair on the back of their necks where standing up.

"How many Reapers are coming?" inquired Garrus his mind racing through how he could find a way to stop this. He knew they where coming even so it wasn't something he was looking forward to and if truth be told he wasn't fully prepared for. The only thing he hadn't expected was that he had warning that the fleet was coming.

"Currently in the network there is 90 Reaper ships heading toward the Citadel." Stated the Catalyst as suddenly more red dots entered the network. "Make that 175 but I would expect them to break apart and head toward the capital worlds of the Races of this cycle. From there they will break apart again into fleets ranging from 24 to 90 ships some depending on the size and population of their target world. Some Reapers will be sent out on solo missions but they generally don't unless the target is either very small or important enough to get a Reaper's full attention. That is their normal war plan, I don't expect them to change now."

"How big is their fleet?" inquired Sheppard his mind going into war mode as well.

"At the end of the last cycle they numbered 570 capital ships with an additional 1310 support ships." Stated Catalyst as the council members eyes widened, even Garrus and his team where amazed by the number, that was 1880 ships. Even to the Tau'ri who where more used to massive fleets the Reaper Fleet would be the second largest fleet they had ever encountered, with only the combined fleets of the System Lords beating them. The Systems Lords never really came together under a single banner, these Reapers where united. "Strange, I am not picking up support ships only their capital ships, cruisers and destroyers, no supply ships or the like"

"Why would they need them." Stated Sheppard "If they gain control of the gate couldn't they open it to their base and let their support ships through."

"Yes…that is likely the answer." Stated the Catalyst "There support ships are slower than their warships having them go through normal space would slow down the warships, better to have them wait in dark space and then take them out."

"How…how did they get that many ships." Inquired Liara

"Not that surprising, how many cycles they have done." explained the Catalyst "If they finished this cycle they would add 21 Capital Ships to their fleet, one for each Race in the galaxy. Add onto every major world added at least two to four ships of different classes depending on the need of the Reapers and you get a lot of ships. Personally I never understood why they limited themselves to only a single capital ship per race, why not every major world or the like. Still that is their call and in the end it helps us."

"I don't see how their forces are massive." Countered Garrus

"Could have more capital ships but it doesn't." countered Sheppard

"Correct and this isn't even the largest force they had, they are still recovering from the war with the Furlings, however they are getting close to their old numbers." Admitted Catalyst

"But there is only 11 races in the galaxy." Countered Tevos as she added the member races of the Citadel Council plus the none members like the Krogans, Quarians and even the Vorcha. Put all together it only came up to 11 different advance races, 12 if you counted the Geth.

"11 that you have made contact with, 12 if you add the Geth but I wasn't doing that." Answered the Catalyst "There are more species then just the ones you know which have made Mass Effect travel and they will be targeted by the Reapers as well. Still they will focus on the races which are united together first before going after the other ones one by one. If they are not stopped Trillions of lives will be lost and everything built by the races of the Citadel council will be destroyed."

"I have heard enough." Said Sheppard as he raised his hand to his ear piece. "Sheppard to Normandy."

'Where here Major." Answered Joker "What is going on?"

"Inform Hackett, we have a situation here we have made contact with the Furlings." Stated Sheppard

"Say again Major, did you say Furlings." Inquired EDI

"Yes, I did and also bring the Normandy to general quarters we are about 20 minutes out from a Fleet of 90 Reapers arriving to take this place." ordered Sheppard before looking toward Garrus "How well can your fleet stand up against 90 of these Reapers."

"Not well." admitted Garrus "While the Citadel fleet 85 warships, a single Reaper along with a Geth fleet almost defeated the Citadel Fleet a few years back. I don't believe we will be able to handle 90 Reaper warships."

"We have reinforced the fleet since then and now there are three Dreadnoughts here not just one." Countered Liara hoping to spark some hope.

"And 30 of the Reaper Ships are Dreadnoughts." Added the Catalyst "The rest are cruisers, destoryers and a few troop ships. Likely filled with turned Protheans, I believe you know them as Collectors. They always save some to use to start the ground invasion before they turn more people into soldiers."

"Against that…the Citadel will fall." answered Garrus "There is no way the fleet we have here can stand against that."

"If that is the case you need to get everyone you can off this station before they arrive." Advised Sheppard

"There are just over 13 million people here, there is no way to get them all off the station before the Reapers arrive." Stated Liara as Sheppard lowered his head, he knew that even with beaming technology would take hours for the Tau'ri without them days. "We have to hold them off."

"I don't think that will be possible, we need to get as many people off this station." countered Garrus

"And pull as much of your fleet out as you can." stated Sheppard "If you can't hold this station no point throwing away ships that can be used later. Better to get everyone you can off."

Garrus paused for a moment looking around at the Citadel, the heart of Council Space. While each race had their own governments on their home worlds this was where everything of great importance was really decided. It was where different races came together to organize for the greater good.

"Your right, we can't hold against that many Reapers with what we have here." Stated Garrus before turning toward the Council. "We need to alert the fleet and start an evacuation."

"At least call for aid, where is the nearest Turian fleet?" offered Liara "They can come in from behind like they did with the Geth fleet. Trap them between two fleets and destroy them."

"We will do nothing of the sort, you have yet to provide any evidence that this isn't some kind of trick." Countered Sparatus "For all we know this is all part of a plan to get our fleet out of position so that the Tau'ri can take the Citadel. There is only one way in and out of this area and the relay here can go to any other in the network. Whoever controls this space controls the heart of the network."

"Which is why the Reapers have always taken this position first in any cycle, the only thing that prevented them from coming out of the Stargate this time was thanks to the work of the Protheans who disabled the Reaper remote control of the Keepers and of course Spectre Vakarian and his team." Countered the Catalyst "That prevented the gate from being dialed in and the Reapers coming through into the heart of the galaxy in the opening moments."

"Stargate, you mean Mass Effect Relay." countered Liara

"No, the center ring is not a relay it is a stargate super gate." explained the Catalyst "A mass effect relay could never reach another galaxy, a super gate making a stable wormhole to another galaxy can."

"Stargates at least the smaller versions are the backbone of every galaxy we have been to aside from this one." added Sheppard "However we are wasting time, if the Reapers are coming here then you need to prepare. You said there is only one way in or out through the relay. Get all your weapons pointed there and the moment they appear fire at them. Make a bottle neck hold them up."

"It could buy at least a few minutes." admitted Garrus "It would allow us to get more civilian ships loaded up to make a run for the relay, it wouldn't buy much time but minutes matter in war."

"But your Tau'ri ships have already shown you are capable of traveling at Relay speed without a relay, so you could come in behind our fleet and cut us off from the Citadel." Countered Sparatus before shaking his head. "Once you do that you can seal the station and hold out until your fleet arrives."

"We have no interest in controlling your station." countered Ashley "We don't need it."

"What does that mean?" inquired Tevos "If the Presidium is part of this "Stargate" wouldn't you want it to reach other galaxies?"

"We can make our own." admitted Miranda as Sheppard looked at her. "They would find out anyhow, besides our version is much more advanced so we have no interest in yours. That was why we came to assembly a super gate we have already premade. We have no need for this Citadel, in fact having a population center built into a super gate is asking for people to die every time it is open."

"The Reapers never really cared about the people within the Citadel." Stated the Catalyst "When the gate was activated meant the bulk of the governments which called this place their capital would be dead."

"Killing the top of the chain of command, we need to prevent that. It hasn't even be started yet, we need to get ready." Said Sheppard before looking at Ashley before handing over the datachip full on information on the Reapers to her. "Take this back to the Normandy."

"Alright." Said Ashley as she reached up to her own radio.

"You aren't going anywhere until we get some answers, so there is no point in…." started Sparatus only to have Ashley, Miranda, Sam and the honor guard disappear in flashes of light. Making Torran the only remaining Tau'ri in the room.

"What the?" inquired Valern as he looked around for some rings but saw none.

"Seams that beaming technology has improved since I was last updated." stated the Catalyst

 **Since she wasn't a council member race Tali and the rest of Garrus' team, the one who had saved the Citadel from a Reaper take over and then saved Turian settlers from Collectors destroying their base in the process wasn't allowed to go to the Citadel Tower as part of this ceremony.** Instead she and the rest of the team had moved to a nearby bar located near the Tau'ri ship the Normandy. The owner, a Volus had protested not only her being allowed into his bar but Legion who was allowed onto the Citadel under guard being allowed in. Only the combine looks of the rest of the team, and Samara's threats to show what a Justiciar could do had forced his hand. He had even given them a prime seat located near the Tau'ri ship. Not that there was much to see, two Tau'ri in dress uniform stood to either side of the docking arm leading into the ship. While across from them at the C-sec checkpoint which butted up against the bar C-Sec officers stood at the ready.

"So where do you think the Tau'ri woman went?" inquired Tali

"If you noticed, the five rings dropped down when she touched the podium. That has to be an activation of some kind." stated Thane as he used his natural perfect memory to recall the events.

"Judging from the reaction of the Tau'ri guards they don't seem concern." added Tali

"We disagreed, their body heat has increased and amount of perspiration has also increased a sign of stress in any known organic race." stated Legion as his powerful sensors monitored the Tau'ri. Suddenly a load series of beeping's with a mixture a call of some kind, was coming from the Tau'ri ship. She had spent her life on ships, she knew it was an alarm of some kind but she wasn't sure what, everyone was looking toward the Tau'ri ship. Even the Tau'ri seamed stunned for a moment as the two Tau'ri turned and looked at each other as a voice came over the speaker. Thanks to the translator program she and the other members of their team understood what was being said while almost everyone else couldn't.

"General Quarters…General Quarters…All hands man your battle stations." stated the voice as the Tau'ri looked at each other, before they rushed down the docking arm.

Almost as one, the team jumped to their feet believing that the Tau'ri where about to launch an attack on the Citadel. They jumped over the railing which separated the bar area from the public walkway and the C-sec checkpoint where the Normandy was. This caused more then a few people to look at them, only to have their heads snap back toward the Normandy as the sound of docking clamps being released filled the air. The Normandy's engines picked up power as it moved away from the docking port. A fast-acting C-sec officer slammed his hand down on a panel turning on the magnetic emergency lock seals. These seals where designed to hold ships in place and where required on all docking arms, they where suppose to be used to hold ships for inspection and impoundment by C-sec. Down in the lower rings where cargo and more seedy ships where common the clams where stronger and more often used, here at the higher diplomatic level the clams where actually very weak and almost never used. Even if the clamps had been the stronger ones found in the lower wards it wouldn't had made a difference. They came down onto the shield of the Normandy and bounced off without doing anything. The Normandy pulled away and after a short distance with a roar it powered up into the sky.

"Get the council the Tau'ri ship is making a run and alert the fleet to cut off the Relay." Ordered an C-Sec officer "Pin the ship down and…."

He was cut off as the image of the Normandy rippled a bit before it disappeared behind a cloaking field leaving the C-sec officers looking at seamed to be empty space.

"Garrus, this is Tali the Normandy gone." started Tali into her communication system only to be cut off.

"Tali the Normandy is moving to defend the Citadel." explained Garrus back "At least I hope it is, it is hard to explain but we made contact with an AI who runs the Citadel and monitors the relay network. We have a fleet of 90 Reaper ships incoming in just over 20 minutes."

"Wait, did you say 90 reapers?" inquired Tali as she looked around at her team, they had all heard it as well. All of them had a look of almost pure fear on their faces, she even thought Legion looked afraid and for the Geth that would be a first that she had seen. They had faced down the collectors together, some of them had seen what Sovereign had done first hand while others had seen only videos. They knew what a single Reaper could do and now 90 of them where heading toward them.

"Yes, head to Citadel Tower go to the armory and load up." ordered Garrus, now regretting taking the Normandy to the Citadel, their normal ship had all their extra supplies and weapons. "I'll make sure they know you are coming, we will need you all up here."

 **Onboard the Normandy Ashley, Sam and Miranda moved up to the main command walkway with a data core in hand.**

"We are clocked and clear of all Citadel ships, doesn't seam like they know where we are." Reported Joker "Now what is going on?"

"We have 90 Reaper warships coming right at us, we have made contact with a Furling AI who has given us data on the Reapers and on top of that this AI has been keeping the Reapers in this galaxy because they want to commit genocide on an even larger scale." added Ashley as she pulled out the data card. "EDI do we have a sealed isolated computer."

"Terminal 7." answered EDI as Ashley moved to the terminal marked 7. She placed the data core on the scanner and the scanners went through the process of scanning for any sign of viruses or anything else that could hurt the ship in any way. The process wasn't totally full proof, but it was the best option they had and even after they finished the scan the terminal was isolated and while EDI and everyone else could read the information on it, there was no way anything the data could be used to hold a virus that couldn't be found. Well at least so far it had a 99% success rate, the 1 % came in a test where someone had decided to charge their phone on the terminal and an ancient virus they where using as a test used the built in wifi to escape and infect the ship in the simulation. There was no way out this time and the data came up along with the scan saying it was clean.

"Alright, looks like we have a lot of data here." confirmed EDI as the data ran across the screens at a speed which made the text look like fast moving blurs but to EDI she could process every word, understand every chart and figure. "15 to 20 minutes to process it all."

"You have 10." ordered Ash as she turned to walk away. "I am heading to the armory get everyone suit up and ready."

"Aye, Aye." confirmed Joker even as the back doors to the bridge opened up as armed marines in full power armor and weapons stepped in to replace the marines standing guard in BDU and side arms. The now relieved guards rushed toward the armory to get suited up as well. All over the ship the crew was moving to action stations, rail guns where brought from standby mode to active mode. That wasn't much of a change, it mostly involved a flip of the switch as the radar went from passive tracking to active tracking and a first round was loaded into the chamber. Missile tubes where a little different as the crew slammed the missiles into the tubes and locked them down. Damage control teams manned their posts and marines spread out over the ship to repel any boarders. Crews strapped into their control panels and made sure their headphones where on tight and that they had a good communication link. Down in the heart of the ship a group of 5 sailors with a guard of 10 marines typed a code into two key panels and placed their hands on the scanners. Once down the massive door opened to show a floor to ceiling rack full of 22 naquahah enhanced nuclear warhead. They moved to the first five and used the side mounted computer to put in the arming codes. There was a brief moment and then a confirmation the weapons where armed and on standby.

"This is nuclear command, nuclear warheads 1 through 5 are now on standby." stated a voice over radio as Joker sat down in his own pilots' seat in the front cockpit of the Normandy. "How many do you want armed?"

"Arm them all." ordered Ashley's voice over the radio.

"Confirmer please?" inquired the weapon's officer as Ash typed in her command codes into her computer. That was phase one of the arming process.

"This is Jacob Taylor arm them all." added Jacob as he did the same thing.

"Confirmed, arming all nuclear weapons ETA 90 seconds." confirmed the weapon officer.

"When was the last time we armed all the nuclear weapons?" inquired a second weapon officer

"On this ship, never but last time I saw it was right before we carried out the invasion of Tauron to use them on Colonial Ships." answered the weapon officer as he went to the next nuclear weapon and armed that one as well.

 **For the longest time no one said anything as Sheppard stood in the middle of the Citadel council.**

"I recommend that the council fall back to the Destiny Accession and that we start evacuating the Citadel." advised Garrus

"On the word of an alien who claims to be from another galaxy and an AI which is more then likely fake?" inquired Sparatus "No."

"Maybe this will show that we are telling you the truth." stated Catalyst as the holographic image of Council man Sparatus in his office talking with another Turian.

"I don't care if she wants it, that is my families house and she is no longer my family." stated Sparatus

"We can argue that, but the marriage contract states…." Stated the other Turian before the image paused.

"That was 7 years ago? Do you think the Tau'ri where monitoring you seven years ago. By the way, the Reaper fleet just reached the Nimbus Cluster." countered the Catalyst as the image of the Council man in his office disappeared replaced by the map of the galaxy. The Reapers had reached what seamed to be almost like a T junction on the network. From there they could turn right and head deeper into the Galactic core or they could turn left and head back toward the outer rim of the galaxy. Just as everyone figured they turned right and headed toward the Citadel. "I have video of you all plus your predecessors dating back to the fall of the Furlings?"

"I don't think that is needed at this moment." countered Sheppard as he reached for his ear. "Normandy do you read me?"

"Yes, Major." Confirmed Joker

"Get me Admiral Hackett." ordered Sheppard before looking at the Catalyst "Broadcast it to my location, can you put it on the main display."

"With ease." Confirmed the Catalyst

They didn't have to wait long as the image of a man dressed in a white uniform appeared before them and to everyone's surprise another man dressed in a pair of work jeans and a green T-shirt appeared. Sheppard snapped to attention as the images looked at him.

"Admiral Hackett, Dr. Jackson." said Sheppard "Allow me to introduce the Citadel council, Spectre Garrus Vakarian and his team and finally the Catalyst AI."

The two holograms looked that the 3rd hologram of the Keeper.

"Sirs, if the information is correct then this is the last AI of the Furlings." Explained Sheppard as Dr. Jackson's eyes visibly widened however the eyes of Admiral Hackett was hidden by the brim of his cap so the council couldn't make it out as well.

"The Furlings?" inquired Jackson as he turned his attention toward the Catalyst.

"Yes, Doctor Jackson I am all that remains of my species after the Furling Reaper war." stated the Catalyst "I have monitored the Reapers ever since the fall of my people and their enslavement. You have arrived just as the next cycle of destruction is about to begin."

"We have only started processing the information on these Reapers however the information is somewhat limited how much time do we have?" inquired Hackett

"Less than 20 minutes until we are hit by 90 Reaper ships." answered Sheppard as they all turned their attention to him. "The Normandy is moving to a defense position and aside from myself the whole crew is onboard. Sam…sorry Dr. O'Neill had just returned from the control room for the Supergate when they were detected in the relay network."

"This is my worse fear, a war far away from our space." Admitted Hackett placing his hand under his chin. "We don't have the supply lines or the resources for a fight all the way out here. It will take time to assemble the Gate and even so we would be fighting a galactic wide war at the end of one supply line."

"The Reapers have been harvesting trillions of souls for millions of years." stated the Catalyst "They have even attempted to travel to our galaxies, however the fuel limits of their Element Zero hyperdrives has limited them to this galaxy. In time however they will find a way, slowly they are putting the pieces together, once that happens everyone is in danger."

"They do not have hyperdives?" Inquired Jackson "That will give us a huge advantage over them."

"No, and they have just enough fuel to travel between this galaxy and the location of their own super gate in dark space." explained the Catalyst "They likely sent the bulk of their fighting force to take on the forces of this cycle and will attempt to open reactive the super gate here to allow them to bring in their own supply ships."

"That may give us something to work with, do we have an address for their super gate?" inquired Hackett

"Here, it is on the data core I gave to Major Sheppard and Spectre Vakarian as well." Said the Catalyst as a series of strange symbols appeared.

"EDI is going over them now and should have more data soon." Confirmed Sheppard

"Well that may give us something to work with." Said Hackett "However 90 warships, we have a task group heading toward you now but 90 warships with more reinforcements on route if need be. We will not be able to hold that position for long."

"Can the Citadel be evacuated?" inquired Jackson

"There is also 13 million people on the Citadel." added Liara as Jackson let out a sigh.

"Admiral, I know you are head of the military forces on this mission but we can't let 13 million people die while we have a chance to stop it." advised Jackson "We wouldn't have done that when we first started out exploring the galaxy, we became the 5th race because we were not just technologic advanced but we did what was right. We have to do what is right here."

"Agreed." confirmed Hackett before looking back at Sheppard. "Major, you are to hold the line wait for our forces to arrive, do not open fire first. Depending on the battlefield situation we will either force the Reapers back or do a fighting retreat taking everything and everyone we can to safety. I have to contact President Carter and inform her of the situation and get orders."

"I understand sir." Said Sheppard

"If I may, Admiral I am all that remains of the Furlings. The people who used to be the 4th Great Race in the alliance of great races now work as slaves both physically and mentally. I have watched the Reapers come and go since that day millions of years ago." stated the Catalyst "I can't estimate of the numbers of lives lost by their hands but each cycle takes hundreds of trillions of souls and they have been doing this for millions of years. Please do not let this races of this cycle fall like so many others. They show great promise and potential."

The Tau'ri shared a look between each other, there was no way for the Catalyst to know what the Asgard had told Colonel Jack O'Neill all those years ago when they made first contact with them. That they had great potential.

"Alright, I need to contact Earth." Said Hackett as he disappeared leaving Daniel standing there. Daniel turned his attention toward the Catalyst before speaking.

"If we have to abandon the Citadel, what will happen to you." Inquired Daniel

"I will remain of course, I am hard wired in so I can't be removed. I have a sealed area behind multiple defenses that the Reapers or anyone else can reach." explained the Catalyst as suddenly a aid rushed into the room.

"Forgive my interruption." pleaded the aid, an Asari C-Sec officer. She didn't seam to notice the hologram of Dr. Jackson. "But we just lost contact with our pickets at the Nimbus Cluster, last message was this."

With that she played an audio of a deep heavy metal sound that rose up into a constant buzz.

"I remember that sound, it was what Sovereign broadcasted across all communication channels when he attacked the Citadel." answered Tevos as the rest of the council nodded in agreement.

"The Reapers are coming we need to move our fleet, alert everyone we can and get as many civilians and the council away from here now." Ordered Garrus "We can't let the Reapers take you, we need you all to get away to better organize our defenses."

"This is independent proof that the Reapers are on their way here." confirmed Sparatus finally agreeing that action needed to be done.

"Alert the fleet of coming combat, send messages to every world in Citadel space as well to prepare for attack." Stated Council Woman Tevos "The Council shall evacuate, the civilian ships which can make it to the relay will head out at once while the rest of population shall take cover within the Citadel, once sealed I don't believe even the Reapers could get in."

"They will." countered the Catalyst "You have just over 15 minutes now."

"Then we better hurry. I believe it will be better if we not board the Destiny Ascension but instead a faster cruiser and evacuate the combat zone" stated Sparatus as the council nodded in agreement and turned to leave followed by the Ambassadors and their staff.

"Dr. Jackson when will our reinforcements arrive?" inquired Sheppard

"We are 40 minutes out." Stated Dr. Jackson as Sheppard's heart dropped at the news. "We have only have 7 battleships and 3 carriers with me along with supporting ships. Hold the line Sheppard, hold the line and we may be able to save the bulk of those people in the Citadel."

"I will, no we will do our best sir." Stated Sheppard as the holographic image of Daniel Jackson disappeared.

"Seven dreadnoughts you have seven of them coming here?" Inquired Garrus as Sheppard nodded, the whole Turian navy only had 39 Dreadnoughts with seven Tau'ri Dreadnoughts in support of the three they had here that would be largest concentration of Dreadnoughts since the Krogan War. "Best news I had in a while."

"Plus 3 carriers, they are just as large as battleships but full of attack aircraft." Added Sheppard as he moved to his radio again.

"Normandy, they are going to seal the Citadel, move to a defensive position and prepare to hold the line." ordered Sheppard. "Also beam over my supplies, I will need it."

"Yes, sir." Confirmed EDI as within moments a blinding flash of light filled the space behind him. When it faded a median sized crate was sitting there. He walked over and pressed his hand onto the DNA scanner, it opened to show his power armor, his standard combat uniform, weapons and equipment.

"Is there a place I can change?" inquired Sheppard

 **Alarms where beginning to sound as the Tali and the rest of her friends rushed toward the Citadel tower.** Around them the giant arms of the Citadel where starting to close to form a protective barrier between the people and anything that could threaten them from the outside. To Tali and the rest of her team it felt as if they where being trapped inside a cage. Multiple ships where leaving the docks making a run for the Relay as word got out of the believed threat. Still the bulk of the population where actually semi-clam, the Citadel had barriers equal to if not greater then the mass relays which was stronger then any Dreadnought. On top of that the armor around the outer haul of the massive space station was once again the equal to the Relays and was the strongest known. Nothing short of a massive asteroid strike could possibly hurt the station. It was a protective shell that the people believed no one could get through, Sovereign had only gotten through last time because he got in before the Citadel arms had fully closed and sealed. In theory nothing could get them once the Citadel was sealed, the only theoretical way to defeat

"Why did we come in the Normandy, we don't have a ship here." Complained Tali as she looked at the line of C-sec officers who were busy sealing off the Citadel tower.

"Get back." Ordered the officer to the rushing group toward them. "The Citadel tower is closed, go back to your homes or designated bunkers."

"We are members of Spectre Vakarian team and he…." Started Tali

"Like I care, go back Quarian." Snapped the C-Sec officer a Salarian with a Turian backing him up.

"Let them through! Now!" yelled Garrus as he came down toward them. "Spectre's authority."

"Very well." grumbled the Salarian as the team rushed through the checkpoint, they headed into the Citadel tower taking the back route which was faster even as it skipped all the beautiful pieces of artwork and perfectly maintained plants as they headed toward the guard center. They entered the lower levels to find multiple C-sec officers and more than a few Spectres getting ready for combat. There was no panic or rushing around, everyone was calm and some where even taking their time.

"Don't they realize the trouble they are in." stated Samara as she looked around. The sense of calm was unnerving.

"Clearly not." stated Thane as Garrus lead them toward one of the armories to find Laira and Mordin loading up for combat. They weren't alone standing there with one of his boots on a bench was the Tau'ri Major Sheppard. He was in the same body armor they had seen him in earlier only it lacked the camo pattern instead taking on a solid black with a silver stripe running down his arm and a two silver lines across his chest. His strange rifle sat in a create nearby along with what was clearly ammo.

"How did he get his stuff." inquired Tali "His ship pulled away."

"No time for that. Load up." said Garrus pointing at the nearby armory which was quickly getting emptied by the other Spectres and C-Sec officers. The newcomers rushed over to gather their weapons as Sheppard made sure everything was reading green. His power armor was at full power which meant he could run for just over 72 hours without a recharge and he packed a small emergency power cell that would give him another 20 hours at full power. He was loaded up to the max on ammo.

"You seam calm." Stated Garrus as he walked over to the newest member of his team.

"This isn't my first rodeo." explained Sheppard as Garrus tilted his head a bit but got the picture. "Don't worry, I have seen combat before. Took part in the invasion of Tauron, the conflict with the Race and operations against Wraith holdouts in the Pegasus galaxy."

"But you have never been up against the Reapers before and they are unlike anything you have ever met." stated Samara as the Asari justicard looked at this Tau'ri. "Bravery is a good and honorable trait to have as well as experience but you need to be ready to face them."

"I understand." confirmed Sheppard "We are both used to different things, you wouldn't know what to do against a group of Wraiths or ORI troopers and I have fought the first and trained to take on the second."

"Wraith you keep bring them up, who are they?" inquired Liara as her drive for knowledge pushed forward even in the face of the coming storm.

"An Alien race which feeds on the life force of humans by literally draining the life out of them with feeders on their hands." explained Sheppard "Culled whole worlds and keep an entire galaxy pinned down for thousands of years of harvest and growth. You can put round after round into them and they remain standing and they have the ability to project stuff into your mind to confuse you. There are children stories about Wraiths coming for bad children in the middle the night. My mother told me them when I was a kid before she and my step-dad would go out to fight them."

"There are stories about monsters coming to get Asari children as well parents use them to keep kids in line." Added Liara as she tried not to think of the Reapers coming toward them but still she couldn't fully force it out of her mind. For the longest time neither of them spoke then Sheppard reached his hand out and placed it on her shoulder. He could see something in her blue eyes, fear and rightfully so. This was their galaxy, their home he and the other Tau'ri could fall back to their own galaxies. He had a place to run to, they didn't.

"Don't worry, we are going to beat the Reapers." reassured Sheppard as the rest of Garrus' team finished getting ready.

"Everyone ready?" inquired Garrus as everyone nodded their heads, however Sheppard raised his hand.

"Sorry, but before we get into combat please everyone take one of these." Said Sheppard as he reached into the container which had brought all his weapons and still contained his dress uniform and sword. He pulled out of a slot a dozen flat cards about 3 inches square. "Place one of these somewhere on you."

"Why what are they?" inquired Mordin as he took one and studied it for a moment, it was made of a paper thin plastic but he could see wiring inside the plastic.

"Transponders, if you have that on you the Normandy will know your location and will be able to beam you out." explained Sheppard as he looked at Garrus. "It will allow all of you to escape what will likely happen here today."

Garrus nodded his head in understanding, even he had to admit the situation wasn't good. A massive Reaper force was coming right at them, if they followed the plan they did last time they would cut off the Relay and prevent anyone from escaping. The Normandy with the Tau'ri hyperdrive would be their only way out alive. Each one of them took a card which Sheppard was offering, each one of them finding a place for it, from Tali slipping it into one of the many pockets in her suit to Legion actually opening up a side compartment in his body and putting the card in. Most stuck it in what would be called a breast pocket. Once they all had one Sheppard closed the containers making sure he had everything first before pressing a button on the side. Within seconds it disappeared in a flash of light as the Tau'ri supplies returned to the Normandy.

"What about you, don't you need one as well?" inquired Liara as Sheppard shook his head before touching his armor and then the back of his neck.

"I have a military grade one in my armor and another one already implanted in my body, no offense you have the civilian version." explained Sheppard

"As long as we can make it off the Citadel alive it is good." added Tali

"Agreed." confirmed Thane before his eyes narrowed a bit. "I hope my son is off the Citadel. He was planning to go on a vacation however he never told me when."

"I am sorry Thane but at the moment there is nothing we can do. We have to protect the Citadel as a whole." Reassured Garrus

"Agreed, the mission must come first." Stated Thane

"We need to head to the council chamber, that is where Saren went last time to attempt to take over control of the Citadel. We have to hold that." Stated Garrus

It wasn't a long walk back to the council chamber as Sheppard reached for his own radio.

"EDI you have the data, talk to me." Ordered Sheppard as he and Garrus, headed back to the council chamber. "Patch this into Garrus's team communication system as well."

"Understood Major." eaid EDI as after a short pause she spoke again. "I have just started looking over the data from the Catalyst of the capabilities of the Reaper Capital Ship, however the first impressions is not good."

"They have a main cannon located within the center front of the ship, judging from the data it is equal to an ORI mother ship main weapon maybe a hair stronger." stated EDI as Sheppard held his breath. A Tau'ri battleship had never gone up against an ORI mother ship, even so the Battleships and Carriers had Ancient beam weapons as well as Asgard beam weapons and multiple shots from the Asgard weapons had destroyed ORI ships in the past. "This isn't the only weapon in each of it's arms are smaller beam weapons about equal to Gau'uld weapons but their rate of fire is lower. They also have thicker armor and more point defense systems then I have seen on a ship of that size before. Most of the weapons are focused in a deadly forward arch, none of their main or secondary weapons can fire beyond a 60 degree arch to the front of the Reaper and even their point defense is thin to the rear."

"Designed to take on a fleet head on and destroy everything in their path." confirmed Sheppard "A straight forward and brutal tactic."

"When Sovereign first came here we saw him grab a ship with their arms and rip them apart. He also moved right through a ship that got in his way." Added Liara "Their barriers and hull armor is the strongest we have seen. It took a whole Turian battlegroup to take down one and now 90 of them are heading here."

"That is correct." Confirmed EDI "If this data is correct, those shields are designed to take on mass accelerated weapons in the form of rail guns and the like. Extreme heat and radiation appear to be a weak spot to them."

"Nukes?" inquired Sheppard

"No, our simulation show that nuclear weapons wouldn't work against the barriers and nuclear weapons are not used in combat in the Citadel space or even none Citadel Space." countered Mordin "Even basic level ship barriers can take the effects of a nuclear blast."

"Nuclear weapons have not been used in combat within Citadel space since the Council was formed." added Thane "Nuclear weapons can only be used to destroy cities, all barriers are strong enough to stand up to the blast and the heat, so outside of destroying a city which no one wants to do there is no use for nuclear weapons in combat."

"Besides it is against the Justicard code to use those weapons, it would cause nothing but death for no gain." stated Samara

"Besides it wouldn't make sense for the Reapers to have a weakness to nuclear weapons, that would mean a pre-relay travel race could possibly take down a Reaper." added Liara

"That is somewhat correct." confirmed EDI "Any nuclear weapons outside of the strongest ones couldn't do much damage to a Reaper, so they are safe from normal nuclear weapons."

"So we can't use nukes." Stated Sheppard, nuclear weapons was a key part of Tau'ri space warfare. Nuclear tipped missiles taking out fighters, beaming in nuclear weapons to ships that lost their shields. "So we have to use beam weapons."

"No, Naquadah enhanced nuclear weapons will be able to hurt the Reapers." Explained EDI "Since you didn't have much access to the mineral you are unaware of the explosive power granted by added Naquadah to a nuclear bomb. It is very likely that naquadah enhanced nuclear weapons could do a high amount of damage to a Reaper if deployed in the correct spot. Their barriers will still provide protection but not enough if positioned correctly."

"How much stronger are your nuclear weapons?" inquired Mordin

"I don't have a percentage for you, however during the Colonial war one of our nukes hit a small underground deposit of Naquadah and it turned half the planet into a radioactive lava wasteland with chunks of the planet in orbit." explained Sheppard as the Citadel Races looked at him. "We fixed it after the war, terraformed it back to normal and luckily it was an ice ball world at the time which limited the causalities."

"Still I do not like the idea of using nuclear weapons on Reapers in civilian areas, space ok but not on worlds." stated Garrus

"I can agree to that, but the higher ups may have different idea." stated Sheppard as he looked toward the Catalyst who had been staying in the Council chamber the whole time. There was C-sec officers and other spectres forming a defense line around the chamber. Like Garrus they knew that the tower held the command center for the Citadel as a whole and the Council Chamber was the heart of that control. "Still for the moment we need to focus on stopping the Reapers from getting access to the super gate and bringing in reinforcements."

"Agreed, without their supply ships they would be at a huge disadvantage." Confirmed Garrus as Sheppard looked at the Catalyst.

"What powers the super gate?" inquired Sheppard

"Solar energy is built up over the course of the cycle and then used all at once to open the gate long enough for the Reaper fleet to travel." explained the Catalyst

"Alright maybe we can open the gate ourselves." Inquired Mordin "If this wormhole only last so long we burn through it's power and prevent the Reapers from opening it and bringing in their own forces."

"Will not work, stargate wormholes are one way. They aren't trying to dial out at the moment, they must be trying to find a way to dial in." explained Sheppard as he looked at the Catalyst "How are you stopping that from happening now?"

"The Protheans did it not me, the Reapers attempted to cut all my links to Citadel control when they added the city to the gate, I could only monitor." admitted the Catalyst "They got back onto the Citadel after the Reapers returned to Dark space and they where able to disable the remote control of the Keepers. This prevents the Reapers from controlling them and ordering them to open the gate. They didn't mess with the base program so they still attempt to get into the control room which is a pain for me but the Protheans didn't know about me."

"That was what Sovereign was doing with Saren, control him to open the Citadel for to arrival of the other Reapers." Explained Garrus

"Yes, but that process would had taken only minutes. No there was a second step that was required luckily you were able to prevent that step from happening therefor stopping the Reapers from dialing in the gate." Explained the Catalyst as a holographic image of the Citadel appeared, only it was totally open into something that looked semi star shaped. For a moment nothing happened and at the point where the Citadel arms joined the main ring became highlighted. "The Protheans locked down these points preventing the stargate from spinning and therefor making it impossible to dial in or out."

"There is no way we can lock down all those locations." Stated Garrus

"No there isn't." confirmed Sheppard as he looked at the diagram of the Citadel. "The Ancients would never had built a city on a Supergate, you said that the Reapers made the Citadel correct?"

"They added the Citadel arms and attached them to the main ring making the Citadel." Explained the Catalyst as different parts became highlighted. "They put the solar arrays there along with the power storage needed to activate the gate."

"Can we detach them?" inquired Sheppard as the Catalyst looked at him. "If the Stargate ring isn't complete then it is next to worthless. The Reapers would have to take time to rebuild it."

"That could work, there is an emergency release protocol that would release the arms of the Citadel, the Reapers put it in as to a power surge control. Breaking the electrical break if you will before the whole gate is destroyed." Explained the Catalyst "It could be done with ease; however the arms could be shoved back into position within hours, it is an easy fix."

"What if we took one." Inquired Sheppard as he reached for his radio. "EDI, how much can our tractor beams carry through hyperspace."

"Sheppard, we have been monitoring you what you are saying is possible." stated Miranda as her voice came over the radio as Sheppard chuckled to himself a bit. His helmet had a built-in camera and recording system of course EDI would be monitoring him. "It isn't like towing an asteroid, we would have to maintain the shields to keep people alive on the arm and the size of the arms…we couldn't do it by ourselves. Maybe if we had a whole battle fleet we could attempt to move it. With the force we have coming we could pick up and pull 2 of the arms at most."

"That would leave still millions behind to die at the hands of the Reapers." countered Liara

"Actually, once the arms disengaged they would loss power the people would die from lack of atmosphere not the Reapers." countered the Catalyst "They would for all intensive propose be in space."

"Still if we put as much of the population on two of the arms we could get the bulk of people out." stated Garrus

"Sheppard, I ran Miranda's numbers and while we can get two arms away it would mean leaving the Citadel fleet behind." explained EDI "We can't take them and the Citadel arms with us, it is too much."

"Damn, what about ordering them out now and then…." Started Sheppard as he thought about it. The Reapers where now only minutes out and the Tau'ri forces where over 30 minutes away, if the Citadel fleet did pull out the Reapers would overrun the position before the Tau'ri arrived. "No, the fleet has to stay for the moment, we can't have them pull out."

"Agreed, so Sheppard looks like we have to decide do we save the fleet and one of the Citadel arms or do we sacrifice the fleet of warships and take two of Citadel arms." stated Miranda "Either way we are looking at millions dead."

"Can we move the bulk of the people to a single arm and save them that way?" inquired Liara

"No, to move all those people to a single arm would task the life control systems to their breaking point, they would all die themselves. Besides the panic that would happen as people rush to that single arm you are looking at massive losses just then from people fighting each other." stated Tali "Spreading them out over two arms may be enough but just enough."

"Order the people to move to two of the arms." advised Sheppard as he looked at Garrus "We may only be able to take one but at least with that one we can save the most that we can."

"Agreed." Stated Garrus as he looked toward a few C-sec officers and other Spectre's who had been watching the whole conversion.

"I'll send the orders, which arms?" inquired a C-Sec officer only to be interrupted as multiple alarms began to go off.

"They are here." answered the Catalyst as his holographic image disappeared to be replaced with an image of the space outside the Citadel. In the center was the relay with the Citadel fleet moving into a standard attack formation. Multiple lines of ships both vertically and horizontally with the three dreadnoughts spread out. The Salarain dreadnought was to the left flank while the Turian Dreadnought took the right flank. In the Center was the massive Asari Dreadnought. The rest of the fleet was spread out around those three with multiple ships in the rear. It was a setup, even the Tau'ri navy used it however there wasn't as many fighters or bombers as there would be in a Tau'ri fleet.

"Where are your strike aircraft?" inquired Sheppard as he looked at Garrus

"They are out there." Stated Garrus slightly confused by the question. There wasn't another moment as out from around the Relay there where multiple flashes of motion as dark shapes some of them massive in size slowed down. They where all pitch black and formed a battle line that the Citadel fleet had only there was a lot more of them both in terms of numbers and the number of large ships.

"They are here." stated Garrus

 **Onboard the Normandy Joker moved the ship under a perfect cloak to a position on the left flank of the Citadel fleet.** Judging from scanned this flank was the weakest because the Salarian Dreadnought didn't have the same thickness of armor or even the weapon systems of the other two Dreadnoughts. It made up for it in scanners and targeting systems, but it was still the weak end of the battle line.

"Report." ordered Ashley as she looked out the front window at the massive line of Reaper ships, they where still spreading out forming a battle line almost double the length of the Citadel defense line.

"This is not good." stated Joker as he looked at the Reaper fleet spreading out and forming a battle line of their own.

"This is Commander Mutis of the Destiny Ascension and leader of the Citadel Fleet." Said a voice over the radio. "This is Citadel space stand down or you will be destroyed."

"Simple creatures, your time has come." answered a voice back, it was deep it was powerful sounding and it sent chills down everyone spines. "We have arrived, and your species will fall, your existent is at an end. This cycle is over and a new cycle will start once we harvest your kind."

Inside the Citadel a massive hologram showed the image of the main reaper in the fleet, the source of the communication. Sheppard looked over toward Garrus.

"You have fought these things before will he, she or it recognize you?" inquired Sheppard

"Yes, by name." confirmed Garrus before Sheppard looked at the Catalyst

"Can you broadcast us to the Reaper?" inquired Sheppard

"With ease." stated the Catalyst

"We need to buy time for the fleet to arrive, keep this thing talking." ordered Sheppard as Garrus steeled himself. There was a pause before the Holographic image of the Reaper stopped looking straight forward and instead turned his attention straight toward Garrus.

"Vakarian, you have been an annoyance to us but that ends this day as well." stated the Reaper

"Well I am not sorry to hear that Harbinger, but this will be your end not ours." Countered Garrus as his voice was sent over the communication channels, so that the entire Citadel heard him over their own communication channel, every channel had it on and nothing else.

"A foolish belief, held by many before you and others will say that after you are gone." stated Harbinger "We are eternal we are the higher form of life, you wither and die we are internal, we are beyond you. Before us you are nothing, we are the end of everything, the cycle cannot be broken."

"We will break it, my team has stopped you before and we will stop you now." stated Garrus

"You can't comprehend us." stated Harbinger as he turned his attention the Garrus's team. "Asari, strong in biotics we have harvested stronger biotics, Salarians brilliant in mind but can't think their way out of this storm. Quairans, Geth your struggles against each other nonorganic and organics is why the cycle must keep going…."

Harbinger stopped as he turned his gaze toward Sheppard who was standing there with his arms crossed over his chest. Even its tentacles like arms folded in upon itself as if it was surprised to see him.

"A little surprised are we?" inquired Sheppard as he stepped forward. "You don't know what I am or do you fear what I am."

"You appear to be Ancient but I do not believe you are Ancient, they would have returned much sooner after the fall of their allies." stated Harbinger a little thrown off by the image of Sheppard. It kind of reminded Sheppard of running into someone you hadn't seen in years.

"I am Major Torran Sheppard of the Tau'ri Marine Force." stated Sheppard

"Then you will be harvested like all the others, we are beyond you, we are…." started Harbinger

"I don't think so." countered Sheppard as he interrupted the Reaper, Harbinger seamed somewhat surprised that someone would interrupt him. "See you aren't dealing with just the Citadel races anymore you are dealing with people who know what you are."

"We are beyond you we are the storm, you can't stand against us." started Harbinger again.

"And you have no idea what you are dealing with." countered Sheppard "We stand with the people of this galaxy, you have committed unspeakable crimes against countless cultures including the Furlings and it is time for you to pay for it. I recommend you turn around and leave this galaxy now. Run as far and as fast as you can because if you don't we will hunt you down and end you for what you did."

"How do you know about the Furlings? Their cycle was long before yours." stated Harbinger

"We are Tau'ri, we inherited the mental of the Ancients the builders of the Stargates, we carry the legacy of the Asgard with us." stated Sheppard with force in his voice, with each word the image of the Reaper pulled its arms back until it was under it's body. "We are the Tau'ri, we are the Fifth Race. You are no longer just fighting the people of this galaxy, you are up against the 5th Race."

"So be it, we defeated the 4th Race a long time ago, your race the Tau'ri the 5th race will fall before us as well." stated Harbinger "Prepare yourselves for the end."

They didn't have to wait long as multiple red glows began to gather under the main body of each Reaper capital ship. Even as they prepared the fire the Citadel fleet opened fire a second before the Reapers did. With that the Reaper War began.

 **Well the War has begun, now I would like to address some questions that are sure to come up in reviews and PMs about the size of the Reaper fleet. I for one couldn't find a source that gave a number of Reaper ships outside of some vague number between high hundreds and thousands. So I turned to two of my friends who played Mass Effect a lot and we debated the size of the Reaper fleet until we came to a number we could agree upon. It was a rather long debate between 3 people who collectively has played the Mass Effect games over two dozen times so I don't expect people to agree on the size of the Reaper fleet. As for the Weakness to Naquadah nuclear weapons I found at barriers which are basically Mass effect version of shields are weak against plasma and high heat/radiation. Since it wouldn't make sense for a Reaper or any Mass effect warship to be taken down by a nuclear weapon I decided to make ship barriers strong enough to take on nuclear weapons but not the added power in a naquadah enhanced nuclear weapon. I hope this answers any possible questions. Now until next time please keep reading. Thanks Wilkins75.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10 Clash at the Citadel**

The two massive fleets had formed up into battle lines, the Reapers battle fleet spreading out a much greater distance then the Citadel defense fleet. It was clear to any observer that the Reapers had the advantage, they had more capital size ships, their ships where larger and that was on top that the Reaper fleet was much larger. The Citadel fleet did manage to get the first shot off as glowing masses of light shot out of the front of every ship within the Citadel fleet heading straight toward the Reaper fleet. Seconds each ship fired again sending more rounds down range. Floating over the battlefield under a prefect cloak the opening shots where noted and observed by the crew of the Normandy.

"Impressive rate of fire, most of all for beam weapons." Stated Joker as the Reaper fleet moved forward taking the blows against their shields/barriers with ease.

"Rate of fire is impressive, however the bulk of them weapon fire are not energy based it is mass accelerated base like our anti-air rail guns." Countered EDI "Basically the main weapon of their ships are bow mounted rail guns which run the length of the ship."

"Like the MAC guns in Halo?" inquired Joker as EDI rolled her green holographic eyes.

"A better example would be our own Ancient beam cannons on our battleships and carriers." Added EDI as Ashley walked onto the bridge in full combat armor.

"Report." Ordered Ashley

"First shots fired by the Citadel forces, no noticeable effect on the Reaper fleet." reported EDI "Reaper fleet still advancing hasn't opened fire yet on the Citadel forces."

"Wondering why they haven't." inquired Joker as the Reaper fleet moved forward and as they did the front rank of ships raised up the multiple tentacle like arms raised up as a red glow appeared in the center of the ship. Then with a burst of energy the front ranks of the Reaper fleet opened fire, their bright red beams shot forward. From a distance they looked similar to the Asgard beams only slightly slower and the clear difference in color. The Citadel fleet moved to avoid the beam strikes and to the credit of the ships captains, a lot of the ships targeted by the beams managed to avoid the strike. Those who didn't avoid them where totally destroyed as the beam shot through them before causing them to buck a bit before exploding outwards.

"So far so good." said Joker as the Citadel fleet kept up their fire. "Looks like most of those rounds from the Reapers missed."

"The hitting percentage will only go up as the Reaper fleet closes in, less time for the Citadel captain ships to dodge the incoming fire." Explained EDI

"Alright do we know where their flag ship is?" inquired Ashley as Miranda and Jacob also entered the bridge.

"Right here." said EDI as a holographic image of the battle appeared in front of three of them. In the center rear of the Reaper fleet was a larger Reaper then the other ships in the fleet, it was staying back from the main front to avoid taking direct fire. The Tau'ri where half tempted to head straight toward it, to take the command and control down until they noticed all the drone like fighters around the ship. "There is no way we can get in close enough to place a nuke by beaming while remaining cloaked. Also taking out the flag ship may have little effect on the battle at the moment."

"How so?" inquired Joker

"At the moment, the Reaper's battle plan have not been affected by the Citadel forces logically even if the flagship falls they will keep up their plan and tear through the Citadel fleet before going to the Citadel itself." Explained EDI "It will take a lot of time and resources to punch through the defenses around the flagship and in that time I estimate that only 10% of the Citadel fleet will remain with next to nothing lost on the Reaper side aside from the Flag ship, if we focus on the other Capital ships we will raise the percentage of Citadel fleet remaining."

"Alright, we need to engage." said Ashley as she looked at the developing battle, she was a marine not trained in ship to ship combat even so she could see the weak front in the Citadel forces was the Salarian front. Their ships where not as heavily armored or as armed as the other two races which made up the bulk of the fleet. "Here."

"I agree, Pilot spin us around and we can come up behind the Reapers." Advised Miranda "We can strike these two Reapers and beam in some nukes as we passed by."

"Ok, but please call me Joker not pilot." Answered Joker as the Normandy did a barrel roll over the Reaper forces.

 **On board the Destiny Accession Commander Mutis monitored the whole battle from the bridge of the flagship of both her own Asari fleet and the Citadel fleet.** She leaned forward and looked at the holographic displays with a growing sense of dread, the opening volley had been all that she could had hoped for. Her ships had gotten the first shots off and that was key, a mass accelerated round should be tearing holes in the Reapers defenses yet in total her forces had taken out two of the smaller ships at the cost of over a dozen of her own. Those two that had gone down had taken multiple hits from dozens of ships including two rounds from the Destiny Accession which had the strongest gun in the fleet.

"Enemy is closing range." reported a secondary officer as Commander Mutis looked at the range, now not only the front ranks of the Reaper fleet but the back ranks where in weapon range. They where about to have more of those red ship killing beams coming at them and they were already losing too much to them at a distance.

"Alright we need to fall back, pull back to the Citadel and…." Started Mutis as suddenly a massive spot on her display turned white followed seconds later by another spot. Both spots where behind the Reapers front line.

"Nuclear explosion, by the goddess they are in reading two 25 gigaton explosions." reported operator

"Where did that come from?" yelled Commander Mutis "Did a Reaper power core go up?"

"Maybe, point of detention was to the rear of two of the larger Dreadnoughts on the Salarian front." stated the operator "Sensors is having trouble getting readings."

"Switch to visual." ordered Mutis as holographic image of a second of the Reaper front appeared before her. The Reapers around them source of the blast didn't look to be in the best shape, some of their arms where missing and their barriers seamed to be flickering but they still looked capable of fighting.

"Alright, we may have just gotten our first break with a Reaper power core going up from battle stress but we can't focus on it." Stated Mutis

"Madam how could a single power core cause two explosions at two different points?" inquired another officer as Mutis looked back at the image just in time to see a glowing blue point of light shot through the weaken barriers of the Reaper Dreadnought. The blue energy shot through and kept going striking another reaper who had been a greater distance from the blast. This reaper took it better and absorbed the hit for a second before multiple explosions appeared on its haul as it slowly began drifting out of formation. In theory that ship could be recovered but as for the Dreadnought that was different as the ship exploded in a giant fireball.

The Normandy flew out of the explosion as another shot of blue energy came out of the Normandy, however to the amazement of the Citadel forces the energy instead of traveling straight forward like any spinal mounted mass accelerated weapon or even a Thanix cannon instead shot backwards hitting another Reaper. This shot didn't hit perfectly in the center mass of the Reaper instead it hit the bow section of the Reaper blowing off multiple arms. Even with that damage the Reaper was still in the fight.

Dozens of drone fighters swept into the void left over by the detention of the nuclear blasts, each of the drones where armed with a powerful beam weapon which while not capable of destroying a ship outright could do a lot of damage. They never got within range as the railguns of the Normandy opened up, the golden rounds where different then then mostly blue color of the Citadel fleet or the Red energy beams of the Reapers. To the amazement of the Citadel forces the rate of fire for the Tau'ri rail guns was beyond anything they had ever seen, the Reapers had seen that rate of fire before but it still threw them back for a moment, but only a moment. In response every drone fighter on that side of the battle formation headed straight toward the Normandy along with six Capital ships which broke off their advance on the Citadel fleet to go after this single ship.

The drones being much faster than the capital ships arrived first and began to swarm in from all sides. Against a Citadel fleet ship they would have stood a chance but not against the Normandy which formed a kill zone of fire around them killing every drone that entered that kill zone. Among the Citadel races and the other races in this galaxy fighters where a secondary weapon. They where not used on mass and a primary weapon of war in ship to ship combat therefore anti-air among their ships was secondary to the main ship killing mass accelerated cannon. Among the Tau'ri fighters and strike aircraft played a vital part in warfare and they designed their ships with a lot of fighter protection.

 **On board the Normandy, EDI was guiding the hand of the men and woman firing the railguns of the Normandy.** To protect from her having total control over the weapon systems the firing controls was not linked into her AI core. She could aim the rail guns and that was coming in handy at the moment with so many incoming fighters it was tasking her, however the trigger was being pulled by a crew member at his or her battle station.

"We have Six Reapers nearing their firing range." Reported Miranda as she looked at an overlay map of the battlefield. It showed the Normandy in the center along with four rings of different colors, the first ring was long range missile range which had the greatest range but was easy to shoot down, next was Asgard teleportation range followed closely with a ring showing the beam weapon range, the inner most ring was the railgun range. Overlay all of that in a different color was the believed weapon range of the Reaper's main cannon which seamed equal to the Asgard beam range.

"Well then, time to go." Said Joker as he looked toward EDI, with a nod of the head. The Normandy stopped firing and shimmered for a bit as the cloaked activated.

 **The sudden disappearance of the Normandy right before them threw off the Reaper forces on the flank for a loop**. The Reaper's hyper intelligent and they realized the Normandy had must have activated a cloak of some kind. They scanned the area with every scanner they had, looking for exhaust of engines, radiation of some kind, the slight outline of a ship under a cloak as light bend around it and anything else they could think of. They found nothing. Realizing this within seconds they determined the best route to find the cloak ship was to fire in all directions until they hit the ship. The issue was space is vast and they didn't have the number of fighters in the area to cover the entire area in weapon fire.

The Normandy dodged and weaved through the incoming fire as it headed down, diving under the main body of the Reaper forces.

"In beaming range in 10 seconds arm warheads 3 and 4." ordered Miranda as message was sent down to the nuclear armory. There the nuclear weapons of the Normandy sat in their bays, all of them had been armed and ready. At the five second mark two men walked forward to weapons 3 and 4 and pulled the final safety pins, now the weapons would go off 20 seconds after the nuclear weapon was beamed off the ship. The two nuclear weapons beamed away both of them appearing in the underbelly of a nearby Reaper Capital ship. Here according to all the records and sensor reports they had the barriers and armor of the Reapers was the weakest. Both nuclear weapons went off at once ripping the Reaper apart.

 **Everyone on the Citadel was watching the battle on multiple screens, they saw the blinding flash of light from the third/fourth nuclear explosion caused the screen to turn white for a moment.** Sheppard along with the rest of Garrus's team and the C-Sec officers defending the council chamber to momentary loss visual.

"That is Four Reapers down." said Tali in amazement "That is great."

"It is and it isn't going to be enough." Stated Sheppard as Garrus nodded his head in agreement.

"We are losing too many ships too fast." added Garrus as Tali looked at him as the image changed to show the Reaper forces advancing on the right and center pushing the Turian and Asari forces back. "I estimate we have less than 10 minutes until the line breaks and the Reapers get their first shots at the Citadel."

"How long until your forces arrive?" inquired Liara as she looked at Sheppard. He checked his watch and let out a sigh.

"Soonest they will arrive is 10 minutes however I would expect it to be more like 15 minutes, they will have to stop before they arrive." stated Sheppard as the Citadel races looked at him in some confusion. "Standard operating move is stop outside the combat zone and launch strike aircraft before heading into the combat zone, you can't launch fighters in hyperspace."

"May the goddess help us." prayed Liara as they turned their attention back to the display.

"We have another problem." stated the Catalyst as he appeared beside them.

"What now?" inquired Sheppard

"Harbinger must have gotten a little concern about your 5th race proclamation and the destruction of four of his ships so fast." stated the Catalyst as the battle disappeared from the holographic display, replaced with a map of the Relay network. "I have detected a Reaper fleet heading straight toward us."

"Reinforcements." stated Sheppard "Just what we need, I should have kept my mouth shut about the Tau'ri being the 5th Race it may have stopped him from calling for reinforcements so soon. How many?"

"50 Reapers." answered the Catalyst "The good news is that those ships where bound for Thessia."

"Thank the goddess." Prayed Liara as her home world was spared for the moment the first Reaper attack.

"ETA?" inquired Sheppard not knowing how Thessia was important but judging from the reactions of Liara and the other Asari it must be to them.

"They just turned around, 15 minutes until arrival." stated Catalyst as the image changed back to the Reaper forces which where still advancing toward the Citadel. A few un lucky civilian ships which had been on their way to the relay before the arrival of the Reapers and where now outside the defenses of the Citadel where now attempting suicidal runs. It wasn't that they where attacking the Reapers, no these ships where too slow and too lightly armored for that. Most had no weapons ad all and the few who did had only enough to scare off small pirates not a Reaper. They where making runs for the Relay headed

"Did the Council get out?" inquired Garrus

"Yes, the last two ships through the Relay carried the Council members and the Ambassadors. They got away." Confirmed the Catalyst as he once again pulled up the relay map, from this map they could see the movement of every ship currently traveling through the relay network. A single point flashed showing the location of the Citadel ships carrying the government of Citadel space. A Reaper ship in red passed by the Citadel ships but kept going.

"Wait, can't the ships detect each other in hyperspace?" inquired Sheppard

"You can?" inquired Mordin amazed by the idea.

"Yes, it is very common." confirmed Sheppard as he shook his head a bit. This was crazy, that meant that a whole fleet could suddenly pop out of a relay deep behind some civilization lines and strike at the heart of a race with no warning. "Tell me something Catalyst once the Reapers take over the Citadel will they be able to track the ships in the Relay network?"

"Correct, however they can't attack ships while in the Relay network but they can move to cut them off. That is how they get migrant ships and refugee ships in each extermination they launch, they track them down when the enter the network and get them. Explained the Catalyst

"Can you cut it off or feed false information?" inquired Sheppard

"Sadly no, I actually have no control over the monitoring system, I can only monitor the system." Explained the Catalyst as Sheppard let out a sigh.

"What?" inquired Liara

"A tactical advantage like that can't be allowed to be kept in the hands of the Reapers. If they can track every move your forces make through the network it gives them a huge tactical edge, maybe an overwhelming edge." stated Sheppard as he thought about the problem. He could think of only one solution, a nuclear explosion in the heart of the Citadel would vaporize the Ring and everything else that made up the Citadel. "Command may want to destroy the Citadel to prevent that from happening."

This caused the eyes of every Citadel member to widen as they looked at him. The idea of destroying the Citadel, the heart of the Civilization and the crown jewel of the galaxy was something none of them had ever dreamed of considering. Yet this new comer had recommended that that heart be destroyed.

"Sadly that would destroy the Furlings and we can't allow that either." added Sheppard "Still to avoid that tactical advantage they may judge it worth the cost."

"It would also do nothing but slow the Reapers down." commented the Catalyst "The monitoring program which switch to the backup site and once the Reapers arrived and set up a command link they would get that back in less than 12 hours."

"I see." stated Sheppard as he noticed two Keepers enter the council chamber. One of them walked over toward a panel and began to clean the metal surface. While the first did that the other one headed to take out the trash from what looked to be a trashcan of some kind. None of the C-sec officers seamed to pay the keepers any mind and one of them even kept setting up a heavy machine gun beside the trash can. "At least they can't monitor our ships in hyperspace."

"True, we used that to our advantage against them when my creators and the Ancients fought them." Stated the Catalyst, as Sheppard noticed four more Furlings enter the council chamber carrying more cleaning tools. They began to clean the floor of the marks left behind by the large crowds which had gathered to welcome the Tau'ri to the Citadel.

"Liara do the Keepers…" started Sheppard only to have a voice come over his ear piece.

"Sheppard, we are detecting multiple small Reaper ships heading toward the Citadel they seam to be bypassing the defense fleet." reported EDI

"Troop transports." stated Garrus

"More then likely." confirmed Sheppard "Normandy can you move in an intercept them?"

"Negative Major we are too busy taking on the rest of the fleet." stated Miranda "We are out of position to carry out an attack."

"Contact the Citadel fleet, tell them to take down those transports." ordered Sheppard as he looked toward Garrus, the command structure was not defined here. Sheppard was not under Garrus's command and unlike the other Citadel races Sheppard as a Tau'ri didn't have to respect Garrus's Spcetre rank. Even none Citadel races tended to respect the rank of a Spectre because they had to deal with the Council if they didn't but the Tau'ri didn't care about that. Garrus paused for a moment before nodding his head and tapping his Omni-tool.

"Commander this is Spectre Vakarian we have incoming troop transports can you engage and destroy them." ordered Garrus

"Spectre Vakarian we have more important things to deal with then troop transports." Said some minor level officer onboard the Destiny Ascension "They can't do anything anyhow, the Citadel is sealed. We need to focus on the enemy fleet in front of us before we deal with troop transports after we deal with the enemy warships."

"She isn't wrong, the Citadel is sealed and there is no way that the Reapers can get in here with troop transports." added Tali "The armor on the Citadel is too thick and that isn't even taking into account the barriers, it would take hours to cut through it and by then the battle will be over, still I am worried."

"I agree, the Reapers must know they cut just cut their way into the Citadel with ease." Confirmed Samara "So what is their plan?"

Before anyone could answered a scream filled the air as they spun toward the source only to see the Keeper which had been taking out the trash had suddenly lashed out against the C-sec officer. Their eyes widened in horror as another one of the Keepers which had been cleaning the floors was spinning the heavy machine gun turret back toward them.

Sheppard dove for his pistol raising it just as the two Keepers where engulfed in blue energy and lifted off the ground. They flayed around in an attempt to move but it only made the shot a hair bit harder as Sheppard and Garrus team opened up on the two Keepers. Their rounds ripped through the Keepers killing them, then to the horror of everyone the dead keepers seamed to melt into a green biomass which began to drip down on top the wounded C-sec officer. That officer screamed in pain as Sheppard noticed that wherever the biomass hit became burned.

"What the hell they have acid?" inquired Sheppard as he turned his pistol toward another Keeper which was suddenly charging toward the nearest C-Sec officer. Luckily for that officer he had been warned by the attack on the other one and downed his attacker. Once again, the body of the Keeper became acid and burned the floor.

"Yes, it is a semi-natural trait." answered the Catalyst "Once killed the Furling bodies are quickly consumed by natural acid. In the ancient past this saved them from predators on their home world because they were simply uneatable so the predators didn't go after them. The Reapers turned it into a self-destruct to prevent information from being found."

"But why are they attacking us? The Keepers are docile?" inquired Liara as her hands still glowing blue with biotic energy pushed the biomass she had been holding in the air away from everyone and down on the head of two advancing Keepers.

"They must be within range of a Reaper control broadcast? They are now under Reaper direct control instead of Citadel control which keeps them peaceful." answered the Catalyst as some of the C-Sec officers looked toward their Omni-tools even as others shot another Keeper who had just entered the room.

"We are getting multiple reports of Keepers attacking people across the Citadel." Reported the officer nearest to Garrus

"Great, we have an enemy within." cursed Mordin "This is a problem, we don't know the number of Keepers on the Citadel, however they are unarmed and we should be able to beat them with some ease."

"That isn't what I would be concerned about." Countered Sheppard "I am sure there are airlocks on this station correct?"

"Yes, but they are sealed." answered Liara only to have her eyes widened in horror as she looked toward the display of the battle, the Citadel fleet was taking a pounding but they where still in the fight. Her blue eyes however locked on the transports heading toward the Citadel. The first one was almost at the Citadel and right before her eyes a red dot appeared on the outside of the Citadel marking an open airlock. "But the Keepers can open them from the inside."

"We are about to get company." Answered Sheppard as he picked up his rifle and made sure everything was ready, he was going to need it in a little bit.

"Alright we need to move to hit them as far away from this chamber as possible, give us a position to fall back to." Ordered Garrus as he prepared to move out.

"I wouldn't recommend that." stated the Catalyst as the Council Spectre looked at the hologram, even Sheppard had to agree that advancing to contact with the enemy was always better then allowing them to choose the time of an attack. "You will be flanked."

"How so? There is only one airlock nearby and we will have them at the end of a long hallway. It will be basically a target range." Countered Thane as he remembered the hallway leading toward the nearest airlock, it was long straight and had almost no cover for an attacking force to use. While they would have cover at their end, it was a prefect spot.

"Because they Reapers will not just be coming from the Airlocks." added the Catalyst as a holographic image of a group of Keepers on the presidium appeared. It was strange, they where moving what looked to be low cylinder shaped objects around. Once one was in place two of the Keepers dragged a kicking and screaming toward the object. The Keepers lifted the blue Asari onto the top of it then it suddenly shot a giant spike straight up into the air.

"What the hell was that?" inquired Torren

"Dragon teeth we call them." cursed Garrus as another civilian, this one a Salarian was impaled on a different spike. "The Reapers use them to make their ground forces, I didn't know there where any on the Citadel."

"The Citadel is more than a super gate, this is a base and shipyard for the Reapers." explained the Catalyst "They keep a lot of things in the locked storage centers spread out across the Citadel. The enslaved Furlings are bringing them out now, in time they will convert enough of the civilians to attack you from behind if you leave this room."

"Shit." Cursed Torren as the camera zoomed in on the blue Asari who had gone limp, however now her blue skin had begun to turn a deep gray color and the entire body seamed to have begun to extend.

 **The Normandy did another barrel roll in space to avoid the random fire coming from the Reaper fighters, without any visual way to track them the Reapers where firing random into space hoping to hit them**. Space while big wasn't big enough and in this case there was a large area in the middle where the Citadel fleet and the Reaper Capital ships where trading blows which was a death trap for any ship caught in the cross fire. That meant the Reaper fighters could focus their fire above and below the cross fire allowing them a better chance to hit the fast moving cloaked Normandy.

"I don't know how long we can keep this up." reported Joker as he pulled the Normandy in such a tight turn that even being in space combined with the gravity dampeners everyone onboard felt the G forces on them for a moment.

"I recommend that we drop cloak and put full power to shields." Advised EDI

"Wait, I thought we had full cloak and shields?" inquired Ashley

"That is currently impossible with our power source, we have a perfect cloak, but our two layers of shields sit at around 50%." explained Miranda "A ship of this size without a ZPM just doesn't have power plant capable of generating both at 100%. If we drop the cloak we can regain our full shields."

"The trade off is that we would instantly become a target to everyone in range." stated Joker as a much larger beam from one of the cruisers came within meters of hitting the them. "I am not sure we can take a hit from that with only 50% shields."

"Agreed." Confirmed EDI as she monitored the Asgard beaming technology. "We are also down to 15 Mark IX nukes, we will need to switch to beam weapons soon."

"What is the status of the Citadel fleet?" inquired Ashley as a flash of light filled space as another Reaper disappeared in a nuclear fireball. This one wasn't as damaged as the first couple, the Reapers had learned that the Tau'ri targeted their less protective rear and had diverted power from their barriers at their front to reinforce the barriers there. This made the nuclear weapon strike less damaging butt opened them to taking more damage from the Citadel forces. It meant that the Citadel forces was inflicting more damage but they where standing in the way of a thunderstorm, they couldn't win this fight.

"Not good, they are down 50% strength with Heavy losses among the Turian, the Salarian front is doing better but that is because we have been focusing our attack on their flank and some among the Asari flank." answered EDI as five more Citadel ships disappeared from her sensors. "I estimate total failure of Citadel battle formation in 10 minutes."

"Can we cut off the head of the snake?" inquired Ashley "As can we get in range of their flagship?"

"No, they have actually increased their defenses around it." answered EDI "We don't have the capability to get in range alive."

"Joker hard right now!" yelled EDI suddenly but it was too late as a red beam of energy cut through the cloak and hit the shield. It wasn't one of the larger beam weapons of the Reaper cruisers but instead one of the weapons from their fighters. It was a weak blow against the Normandy's shield but that wasn't the point. The sudden stop of the energy weapon against the Normandy's shield was enough to give away their position. The sky around them became filled with red beams, some of them hitting the shield.

"Drop cloak, all power to shields!" yelled Miranda as space around Normandy shimmer as the ship became fully visible. As it did all the power that had been used to keep the cloak up went instead to the shields. Just then three of the beams from the larger Reaper cruisers hit the shields, the Normandy shook and felt for a moment like it would break from the hits of three of the ship killing beams.

The Normandy took the punishment losing multiple panels along its side as the force behind the blast broke through the outer bubble like shield and almost broke the haul tight shield as well. Alarms where blaring as the Normandy turned away from the battle and diverting power from everything aside from a shield recharge to engines rocketed away with red beam of energy trailing just behind it. The Normandy powered its way out of range of the fire as it headed back toward the Citadel.

"Alright should we recloak?" inquired Joker as the Normandy moved back around what remained the Citadel fleet.

"We are down to 15 nukes, we need to switch to beam weapons and besides it will only be a short amount of time until we are discovered again." advised Miranda as she looked out over the oncoming Reaper force. Unlike the other ships fighting at the moment, the Normandy could make a run for it and get away, they where not required to use the Mass Relay to cover any great distance. If they wanted to they could fall back and rejoin the rest of the fleet, they had options the Citadel Fleet was trapped and they had no way out. This was a double edge sword, it meant that the Reapers had the upper hand however it made the Citadel Forces fight harder, there was no way out and they knew it was fight or die.

 **That was clear within the Citadel as well as Sheppard moved toward a window which gave him a view of the Citadel as a whole.** Massive fires burned across the city as a ground war was waged within the city of 13 million people.

to take cover behind a makeshift barrier that the C-sec officers had brought in for cover. It reminded him strangely enough of concrete road barriers, they where about the same height but where only large enough to provide cover for two people. They had set up multiple layers of these barriers between Council chambers and main entrees. Since the Keepers attack they had sent teams out to clear the area around them of Citadel of Keepers and to be a picket line against Reaper ground forces. The pickets gave them time to set up but they were losing contact with them one by one.

"Team 7 report." ordered the head of the C-sec officer as he moved backwards and forwards. "Team 7 report now."

"We lost team 7." stated Sheppard with worry in his voice, he knew team 7 was only a floor down and near the staircase leading up to them. The enemy would be here soon and he knew it, even so his eyes looked out one of the windows as the burning city scape outside. It was beautiful in a horrible way, the dark outlines of buildings where aglow with fire and being that he was surrounded 360 degrees with the city it was a horrifying view. He could could hear the sounds of gunfire in the distance but there was likely pockets of C-sec officers and Spectres holding out against the sea of oncoming Reaper forces.

"Garrus it seems we lost team 7." reported the C-sec officer only to have a voice come over the radio.

"They are right outside!" yelled one of the last two pickets who were literally 10 feet away from the door.

"Everyone get to position, now!" ordered Garrus, Sheppard didn't have far to go to his picked out spot. It was a standing position with a large pillar and a high wall. High enough that he could rest his rifle on it and still have it at shoulder length. To make the position even better they had put up a concrete barrier on the other side to form something that from above took on the shape of an L. He had a great side view of the main enters. Across from him with two machine guns in-between Garrus had taken a similar spot. With him was Samara as he had Liara with him. Garrus wanted a biotic with the Tau'ri member since he had very little idea what a Biotic was. The rest of Garrus team was spread out with Thane and the Geth Legion more in the rear with sniper rifles and Tali and Mordin in the middle to provide support. The rest of the C-sec officers and a handful of Spectres took their own positions. In total almost 30 people where ready to hold this room at all costs.

The two picket men, a Salarian and an Asari ran back into the room after firing a few shots at the unseen enemy at the end of the hall. Sheppard held his breath and raised his hand to form the sign of the cross.

"God help me this day." He prayed outload before putting his helmet on. He didn't like wearing the thing, it felt too limiting even with its advance optics and visual displays. Even so he hated a bullet to the head more, last thing he did was chamber the first round in his battle rifle. He later thanked himself that he had put on his helmet the heads-up display had a real time link to his suits built in life sign decetor. This wonderful technology showed him a lot of enemy gathering not near the main entrees to the council hall but a spot a good 20 feet away. He turned his gun and aimed at the spot.

"How thick are those walls?" inquired Sheppard

"A couple of inches why?" answered Liara, her answer came when suddenly a blast filled the air throwing a cloud of dust and shards of metal into the air. Where a wall had been was now a massive hole, out of that hole came rushing in a creature he had never seen before It had blackish skin with red highlights and four eyes. It had a strange weapon in it's hand which it rose up and fired, a beam of energy shot out and hit a wall beside a C-sec officer. The beam had just began to move to hit the Turrian when Sheppard pulled his trigger. The larger round his rifle fire went down range and a lot more stopping power then the normal Council Weapon, ontop of that the first round was high expolosive. The round hit the shoulder area of this creature causing his arm to explode and be sent flying away. Now one arm less he lost his ability to aim correctly saving the soon to be hit C-sec officer. That didn't stop the second creature through the newly made door from dropping an officer with a better aimed round from his fire.

By now the rest of the defenders had turned their fire on the breach, they opened up on the aliens coming through the breach. Even with all the bullets in the air some luckly among them managed to run to cover and began to exchange fire with the defenders. All around him the rounds where flying as more Reapers ground soldiers pushed into the fight. The ones he had seen where soon joined by a new type, this one was unarmed and extremely thin. It reminded Sheppard of a running skeleton on the head was all wrong and the chest was caved in.

He dropped one of them which slid to a stop near him. He dropped down to reload and looked at the creature.

"We call them Husk, turned Salarians. The other ones that look like Turians we call them Marauders." Answered Liara as she dropped down as well to reload her own pistol. Before Sheppard could say another word a cry unlike anything he or any of the Citadel members had heard before filled the air. For a second no one said anything, and no one fired a round as out of the breach appeared something out of a nightmare. It was tall and insanely thin with a female nude form which made him want to run away in fear.

"Mary mother of God what is that?" Stated Sheppard as he looked at the creature who gave out another ungodly scream.

"By the Goddess." Stated Liara as blue biotic energy gathered around the creature "That must be what they did to my people."

There wasn't enough time to worry about anything else as all fire was instantly directed toward this new enemy. Multiple rounds flew into the creature which seamed to just take it with ease, it sent a blue wave of biotic energy toward one of the machine guns knocking it over and sending the gunner flying. Then it gathered more energy as it's ungodly eyes toward him and Liara's position. She raised her hand and he felt his feet leave the ground as blue energy surrounded him. He knew what was going to happen, he had seen this before. A biotic would life an enemy out of cover to be shot, only he and Liara where being lifted off the ground.

That was when an alarm flashed on his head's up display.

"Anti-prior countermeasure." It read as he took a moment to think about it, his armor had a small anti-prior device built in to protect him from any Ori attack. It was countermeasure put in place to protect against an enemy that they could run into similar to the coating on his cloths which prevented Wraith from feeding on him through it. The little devise detecting him lifting off the ground surrounded by an energy source active sending out a wave of energy. To his amazement the wave broke the biotic feed and he fell to the ground. For a moment even the corrupted Asari seemed confused about what happened as if it couldn't understand how it's biotic attack was broken it attempted to use another attack only to have no biotic energy gather around its hands. It was at that moment that Garrus along with the other brought down the creature.

"Well that was lucky." Said Sheppard as he turned to look at Liara who was looking at her hand. "What?"

"I can't pull any biotic energy?" said Liara in a near panic "What is going on?"

"Sorry, that is me." Said Sheppard as he deactivate the anti-prior technology in his suit, putting it back on standby mode. When he finished putting it back on standby mode, Liara regained her biotic power

"How…how did you?" inquired Liara

"Who would have thought anti-prior technology would mess with biotics power." stated Sheppard as reloaded again, his magazine didn't hold as many rounds as the Citadel rifles so he had to reload more often.

"What is a prior?" inquired Liara as more bullets strike around them.

"If we survive this, I'll tell you." promised Sheppard as he popped up and opened fire on more enemies coming through the door.

 **To the crew of the Destiny Ascension the battle was not going well at all, they had damaged some of the Reaper ships and destroyed some of their smaller cruisers however they were losing ships at an alarming rate.** The only flank which was holding up well was surprising the Salarian flank, with their less armored and armed ships that flank was expected to be where the bulk of the ships they had kept as a reserved would have gone. The Tau'ri ship the Normandy while not holding the Reapers fully back but it slowing down the Reaper advance. It had fallen back and was now diving in and out of the Reaper line firing their weapons, the Normandy's kill count was almost as high as the whole Citadel's fleet count. Because of their work the Reaper line was no longer a solid line, a gap had opened up between the center rank hitting the Asari part of the fleet and the Salarian front. The gap was small enough that a handful of civilian ships where actually making it through toward the Relay. The Reapers where so focused on getting to the Citadel and destroying the fleet before them that they ignored the smaller civilians ships letting them pass by as they went after the war ships.

"Can we get some of fleet through the gap and to the Relay?" inquired second officer onboard the Destiny Ascension rocked as another round from a smaller Reaper hit the flagship of the Citadel fleet.

"We have to hold the Citadel, we have 13 million people on the Citadel we can't leave them to die." stated Commander Mutis as she looked at the situation map. All her reserves where in the fight, she had no other ships to draw upon. The Citadel was directly behind them however it was unarmed and now had multiple Reaper troop transports attaching themselves to the hull of the Citadel. There was reports coming in about the Keepers turning on the civilians but the given amount of C-Sec officers should be able to deal with them ground forces. At least they should be able to hold their ground for a while.

"Any message about reinforcements from either the Turian 71st task group or the Asari 14th defense force?" inquired Commander Mutis, those two forces where the nearest to the Citadel and their best bet for reinforcements.

"No response yet." stated the communication officer as suddenly one of the aids cursed load enough that everyone looked at her.

"Sorry, madam." apologized the young officer before gulping "But we have activity around the relay, another wave of Reaper have arrived."

The Reaper reinforcements arrived through the Relay and quickly formed another battle line as they advanced toward the Citadel. As they advanced their powerful barriers forced any floating remains of ships out of the way.

"50 Reaper reinforcements have arrived and are closing in." stated an operator onboard the Destiny Ascension

"How many ships are left?" inquired the Commander

"We are down to a quarter of the fleet left. Reapers have only taken about 33% damage. The Citadel has been boarded and no conformation about reinforcements on route." Stated the second officer to Commander Mutis "Madam, it is time we focus on saving the fleet, we can punch through the weaker flank here and make a run for the Relay and some of us could get out."

"And what about our orders and the 13 million people on the Citadel." stated Commander Mutis "We were ordered to hold here and to defend the Citadel."

"The Citadel is lost madam, and we need to focus on saving Thessia and the rest of our worlds." Countered the second in command.

"Alright." said Commander Mutis with anger in her voice as she studied the map again. The Normandy had opened a slight hole in the Reaper front battle line. If they could push through that line and get to the Relay before the newly arrive Reaper fleet had a chance to form into an attack force.

"New contacts."

"Where?" inquired the commander as the holographic display zoomed toward the far-left flank of the advancing Reaper forces near Salarian the forces. To her amazement a massive vortex of energy opened up on that flank and out of that vortex came multiple black ships, some of them where as large as Dreadnoughts. At first her blood turned cold as she looked at the black ships, none of the Citadel races had black painted ships however the Reapers did. Was she flanked worse then she thought, then suddenly the screen came alive with Friend or Foe broadcast singles. It showed some basic information about the oncoming ships, not much information for sure and it could be faked for sure.

"TAV Battleship Prince of Wales, Beowulf, Pelayo, South Dakota, Kongo, Hamideth and Monitor." Read Commander Mutis as she looked at the labels for the seven largest ships, there was three other ships almost as large but their labels where different. "TAV Carrier Anadolu, Midway and Liaoning. What are those things?"

"No idea." Admitted her second officer as the strange ships moved out into a formation which was strange, instead of forming a battle line and advancing in a line they had formed an arrow head shaped formation with six of the seven battleships forming a wedge shaped within the arrow head with smaller support ships around them. The final battleship, the Prince of Wales was staying back along with the carriers. The space around the carriers quickly began to fill up with a lot of small strike aircraft, much more then anything in the Citadel fleet would have. These strike aircraft rushed forward toward battle with the larger ships of the Reaper fleet.

"Attention Citadel fleet this is Vice Admiral Fagaly Tau'ri Navy onboard the Battleship Prince of Wales in command of this task group what is the current situation." Came a strange voice over the speakers a second before an image of a pale skin man with bright red hair sticking out from under a white cap appeared as a hologram before Commander Metis

"Vice Admiral Fagaly, I am Commander Mutis of the Destiny Ascension commander of the Citadel fleet." Introduced Mutis to this strange red hair man dressed in a white uniform.

"Commander, we are moving to strike the Reaper's flank however we can't hold them back for long I recommend you withdraw your fleet." advised the Tau'ri Admiral "We will draw the Reaper fire to us and then retreat ourselves."

"What of the people on the Citadel?" inquired Commander Mutis

"We have a plan, a crazy plan which will save some but most will die." admitted Vice Admiral Fagaly his voice shadowing a bit when he admitted most of the 13 million people on the Citadel would die. "We will be able to save more if we don't have to focus on saving your forces as well, so fall back now we will cover you."

"Very well." Confirmed Mutis

"We are setting up a forward operational base at the Omega relay please gather there if possible." Added Fagaly, Command Mutis nodded her head in understanding. "We will cover your retreat."

At that moment the Tau'ri ships must of reached their firing range, before her and her command staff eyes the bow of each of the five advancing Tau'ri dreadnoughts began to glow a bluish green color. Then the energy shot forward and hit the nearest Reaper Capital ship to them. There was a slight pause before the beam cut through the Reaper ships. The nearest undamaged Reaper turned toward the new threat and fired one of the red killing beams which would destroy one of her ships with ease. The shot hit the front of the lead Tau'ri dreadnought and hit their barriers. It shimmered gold and before their eyes the Tau'ri Dreadnought seamed to take no damage as it charged again it's main weapon.

"We might actually get out of here." Stated Mutis "Order the Fleet to pivot toward the Salairan forces and then redraw to the Relay. We are leaving."

 **Onboard the Prince of Wales Vice Admiral Fagaly watched as the Citadel forces began to fall back toward his advancing forces even as the Reapers cut down the ships on the far side of the battle line.** The Tau'ri fleet had hit just as he had planned them to, from the side where the Reapers had less weapons. True it would have been better to come in from the rear where they had even less weapons but there was no time to position his forces to come in from the rear. Besides he knew he was doing a holding action; his mission wasn't to win this battle it was to assure the evacuation of the Citadel fleet and then the recovery of as many civilians as possible. He also knew he couldn't allow any Tau'ri technology to fall into the hands of the Reaper. His ships where ordered to fall back if their outer most shields fell below 25% that would give them their secondary level shields enough power to pull out of the combat zone. If the worse did happen, each of the captains and second officers knew that they couldn't allow their ships to be taken intact and that was what self-destructs where for. He was holding back his strike aircraft having them form a barrier between the Reapers and the Carriers, the Condors fighter bombers would carry out long range missile attacks but he wasn't expecting much from them, but it didn't hurt.

"Alright, Doctor Jackson all we have to do now is hold the line long enough to save as many as we can." Stated Vice Admiral Fagaly as he turned his Irish eyes toward his superior.

"This is just the first step, we will not be just holding the line we will have to force these Reapers back." Countered Dr. Jackson as he watched the battle raging in the distance. "We need to get as many of them away but once they away the real challenge begins."

 **Sorry for the delay in getting this chapter out, it actually wasn't totally works fault this time. I focused on finishing another story first before getting this one done and then I have been reading a few stories that I just haven't been able to put them down. Sorry. Now I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Thanks Wilkins75.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11 Clash at the Citadel**

The Tau'ri battle group hit the left flank of the Reaper battle line hard, their ancient beam weapons cutting into the Reapers in a way no other race had done before. Not even against the Ancients themselves and the Furlings did the Reaper loss ships at the rate they where losing them now. Even their smaller ships where being destroyed by a combination of the blue energy weapons of the Tau'ri and the Tau'ri version of Mass Accelerated Cannons which to the amazement of the Reapers seamed to fit in smaller turrets located along the haul of the ships instead of running down the length of the ship like the Citadel fleet did. The Reapers however where nothing but intelligent and they quickly found an answer to counter the Tau'ri for the moment, the retreated. They didn't leave the system instead they pulled their forces back forming a new battle line. The Tau'ri for their part let them go, they formed their own battle line to shield the retreating Citadel forces.

"All ships I want you in position within 2 minutes." ordered Vice Admiral Fagaly onboard the Prince of Wales as he looked at the holographic command table. This ships was forming three battle lines, the forward line had the 6 of the seven battleships along with most of the Destroyers and cruisers. They would be the ones to take on the Reapers first. Behind them were the Eagle fighters, Taita fighter bombers and Condor bombers along with two of the new Houto class pocket batteships. The Houto class where very new to the Tau'ri fleet with only a dozen of the ships modeled after the Colonial Battlestars. They where smaller then battleships and not as heavily armed but they had more aircraft then their larger brothers and the reverse was true when it came to compare them with Carriers. They where more heavily armed and armor but had less strike fighters. They where a middle of the road ship designed to carry out multiple tasks. These two ships now formed the teeth of the second battle line. In the final battle line was where he had placed his carrier along with the flag ship of the battle group the Battleships Prince of Wales.

A Tau'ri carrier's primary weapon was it's strike aircraft and therefor it wasn't supposed to go toe to toe in a slugging match with a battleship like ship. So despite their size they remained back behind the main lines.

"Aye…Aye. Sir." confirmed multiple Captains spread out across the fleet. Thanks to the speed of the Tau'ri ships they were in battle formation much sooner then the Reapers who where still forming up. While the larger ships where forming battle lines three squadrons of Eagle fighters roared toward the sealed-up Citadel, covering the massive space station sticking out of the hull like grows where Reaper Troop transport ships. These ships had slammed against the hull of the Citadel, latching on to it to allow the troops to board the massive station. These ships where tactically out of the battle, having delivered their troops they served no propose in the battle at the moment. They just sat there and that made them perfect targets for the oncoming Eagle attack.

"Target lock." said the lead pilot of the formation as his onboard radar locked onto the nearest of the Reaper transports. "Fox 3...Fox 3."

The anti-ship missile flew off the rail of Eagle fighter, the active radar guided missile headed straight toward the sitting Reaper transport. Since the Reapers had carried very little about their transports and the troops within, they where lightly armed and armored. The Tau'ri missile flew straight and true slamming into the side of the ship. Here the Tau'ri benefited from not upgrading their weapons, since barriers where designed to protect against mass accelerated rounds which are extremely fast and small the barriers broke under the larger and relatively slower moving missile. The missile ripping into it hull of the ship before exploding within, this caused the maximum amount of damage as the inter working of the ship was destroyed along with a hole being blown in the haul leading to decompression. Sadly the decompression wasn't as big of a deal to the Husks who didn't require air to breath. Even so that ship was knocked out of the fight. The other Eagles moved in and began to fire their own missiles toward the sitting duck transports.

 **The distant sounds of explosions could be heard in the distance as Major Sheppard ran from his old location to one more to the rear area behind him was nothing but dead and advancing Reapers.** The defenders of the Citadel Council Chamber where beginning to be thinned out. The endless wave of turned Reaper soldiers had begun to wear down the defenders. The Reapers where taking many more causalities then the defenders but they had more to throw away.

"Fall back!" ordered Sheppard as he covered the retreat of an Asari spectre pulling a wounded Turian who himself was firing back at his attackers. He reached his hand out to help pull them both behind cover when he saw it, an cylinder object maybe nine inches long.

"Grenade!" yelled Sheppard again as the object landed only a few feet away from the retreating Asari and Turian. There was no time to say more then that as an explosion ripped through the air. It sent Sheppard flying backwards, as shards of metal bounced off his armor but failed to piece it. He landed on his back covered with blood, however none of the blood was his own. All of it belonged to the two people he had been trying to help. They where now only blood stains and remains hunks of twist flesh. Some of their blood stained his visor and it smeared as he removed it, as he did he looked around at all the death. They where being forced back, that was something new to him. The Tau'ri never had to fall back, during the colonial war they where the ones kicking the colonials around and it was even easier against the Race. The other operations he had taken part in and others he had heard about the Tau'ri had never had to fall back. It was always the enemy who had to break and run not them, yes in the old days when he was a kid and the Tau'ri weren't fully unified it happened but not now. That unnerved him for a moment, but only a moment as he raised his weapon and fired back at the enemy.

"Major Sheppard, come in Sheppard." Said a voice over his radio.

"This is Sheppard." Resounded Sheppard as he got back behind cover.

"This is Vice Admiral Fagaly, our forces have arrived, and the Citadel fleet is falling back." Responded a voice as he looked down at this arm mounted computer, the ID checked out and so did the code he was receiving. "What is your status?"

"We are falling back deeper into the control area." answered Sheppard as he moved to behind cover to find Garrus already there. "Citadel is boarded, and they are turning the civilian population into more ground forces."

"I see, so in your judgement is the Citadel lost?" inquired Fagaly as Sheppard looked into Garrus' face, this alien who he had meet less then two days ago.

"Just a moment, sir." stated Sheppard "Catalyst!"

"Here Major Sheppard." said the Catalyst as his holographic form appeared before him. He didn't even attempt to take cover because as a hologram the rounds in the air had no effect on him.

"What is the status of the Reapers on the Citadel?" inquired Sheppard

"Currently the Reapers have just over 30,000 fighters on the Citadel, they are constructed on the presidium most of all here and working their way out as well." Stated the Catalyst "C-Sec has formed perimeters holding them back on arms 2,3 and 5 but they near to being overrun. Arms 1 and 4 have already broken and the Reapers are advancing, are turning the civilians as they go so expect the numbers of Reapers here to rise at a rapid pace."

"Sir, the Reaper ground forces are focused on the main ring but have overrun defenses on arms 1 and 4." Answered Sheppard "2, 3 and 5 are still holding for the moment as we are in the central control tower."

"Understood." Stated Vice Admiral Fagaly as the three arms became highlighted on his holographic display of the Citadel.

"Sir, what are your orders!" yelled Sheppard

"Major…your orders are to open the Citadel and detach the 2nd and 3rd arms from the station." Ordered Vice Admiral Fagaly "Once away we will move in with tracker beams and pull the arms into hyperspace."

"Sir, Spectre Vakarian." stated Garrus as he interrupted the communication.

"Sir, I put him on the communication line." explained Sheppard

"I see, go ahead Spectre Vakarian." said the Vice Admiral

"Sir, we might be able to save a lot more people we are holding 3 of the five arms, with your help we can retake the whole Citadel." offered Garrus "You must have soldiers on your ships, we can retake the whole Citadel and your fleet can beat the…."

"Spectre Vakarian we are not going to do that." stated the Vice Admiral "We do not have the numbers to hold the Reapers off forever they can overwhelm us with numbers, we simply can't put our ships in that great of risk. Once the Citadel fleet has withdrawn we will be pulling out as well. With or without the Citadel arms."

"But sir, there are 13 million people on the Citadel the rest will be doomed to death." added Liara "At least give us time to move people to those arms to save more people."

"There isn't time and there could be a lot more people at risk if the Reapers get their hands on one of our FTL drives." countered Vice Admiral Fagaly "We can't put all the other galaxies along with the countless trillions of lives at risk to save those 13 million, I will not do that. We will save what we can and leave. Now Major Sheppard release the Citadel arms, that is an order."

Sheppard lowered his head and looked at Garrus who had a look what he assumed from his limited time with Turian to be a look of resigned acceptance. Liara was easier to read, with a more human face he was able to read her body easier it was a look of horror and sadness.

"Understood sir." confirmed Sheppard as he looked toward the Catalyst "Release the Citadel arms."

"I can't, but you can do it from here." answered the Catalyst as he turned his head toward the area where he had stood before the Citadel Council. Out of almost the same spot that the Ancient scanner was came a larger panel. "I have sent you the instructions."

Before he could say more a beep from his computer told him he had just gotten an email. He tapped it as a series of 8 symbols appeared on his screen. It took him a moment to remember that 8 points in space was required to dial outside the gate.

"Now, I just have to get there." cursed Sheppard

"Get where?" inquired Garrus as Sheppard pointed to where the DHD had appeared, it was out in the open. Anyone with a half descendant aim could hit him once he reached there and to make it worse to dial the gate he would have his back to them. "Samara, Liara protect Sheppard with a barrier now!"

"Alright." confirmed Liara as she looked and saw Samara nearby firing back as well.

"Very well." added Samara as Sheppard broke cover and ran as the two Asari broke cover as well, their hands covered with Biotic energy. The biotic energy formed a solid barrier which quickly became a focus of enemy fire but it did it's job protecting Sheppard. Sheppard bolted toward the DHD and came to a stop in front of the podium and looked down at the strange symbols. It was clearly in Ancient which he could read and write but it was also in an extremely old version of Ancient which he could only begin to grasp.

"Son of a bitch." cursed Sheppard as he scanned the ancient writing trying to find the symbols he was looking for. Luckily his helmet mounted camera scanned the symbols and the computer found the ones he was looking for and highlighted them on the heads-up display.

"Hurry up, we can't keep this up for long." stated Liara as Sheppard's hands danced over the controls, he pressed down on the symbols which light up as he did. He could somewhat understand the commands he was typing in, he didn't know word for word what it said but he understood it was a series of commands to release camps spread out around the Citadel. He put the last command into the computer before pressing down on the center command pad which served the same job as an enter button on any Tau'ri computer.

For a moment he just stood there waiting as nothing happened, then with a groan he heard gears began to turn. He could see out of the corner of his eye out the window the Citadel arms where beginning to open up.

The sudden opening of the Citadel caught the Reapers who where still moving their ships into position by surprised. What surprised them even more was that the smaller Tau'ri ships broke away from their defense formation that they had put together around their larger Dreadnoughts and instead headed toward the Citadel. Then the larger ships began to move turning to counter the still repositioning Reaper fleet. This was a double edge sword for the Tau'ri, by turning their main weapon away from the Reapers they lost the ability to hit their enemy with their most powerful weapon. It also allowed them to bring more overall guns and missiles to bear as the rail guns equal in power to the most powerful Citadel race mass accelerated weapons mounted to the sides of the Battleships could be brought into firing position.

"Citadel arms opening." reported an officer as Vice Admiral Fagaly looked out to see the massive arms of the Citadel extending out. He smiled a bit as he already saw countless small ships heading away from the Citadel as they made a run for the Relay. These were a wide range of ships from larger cargo ships to small private yacht like ships and everything in between. It was just what he was hoping for.

"Put me on." ordered the Vice Admiral

"Yes, sir." confirmed a younger bridge officer before he nodded his head to tell him that the channel was open.

"Attention all Citadel members this is Vice Admiral Fagaly of the Tau'ri, the Citadel is to be abounded if you can get to a ship head toward the Relay but if you are in the 2nd or 3rd arm stand by for evacuation." stated Fagaly "Sadly we will not be able to save anyone on the other arms, leave if you can, in 5 minutes we will be destroying the Citadel."

That message was broadcast to every person within the Citadel and of course it intercepted by the Reapers. This caused a panic it rushes through the Reapers command, they had come here to take command of the Citadel and the super gate so that they could open it up and bring in the rest of their fleet. It was key that they keep it and they rushed toward the Citadel, breaking their formation. This was what the Tau'ri where waiting for.

The Reapers had broken formation and had headed at full speed toward the Citadel to capture it before it could be destroyed. Doing so brought the Reapers which had been out of range of the Tau'ri main weapons into range, much faster then anything their Citadel counterparts could do the Tau'ri ships spun back around and turned their main weapons back toward the Reapers. As one all of them fired and sent 6 Reaper capital ships to the scrape yard as they where hit by the Ancient beam cannon strike. The thing was that each battleship was armed with 3 of the Ancient beam cannons and while they couldn't be fired as one, one could be fired while the other two recharged. This allowed them to keep up the rate of fire up. Every 90 seconds each of the six front line battleships could fire their weapons and while the rate of kills wasn't as high as the Tau'ri would have liked some of the Reapers did manage to survive the strike but heavily damaged it did allow the Tau'ri to throw another punch in the fight against the Reapers. Even better the Reapers where focused on reaching the Citadel they ignored the slower civilian ships which where making a run for the Relay. Being civilian ships, they were of no importance to the Reapers at the moment and they had more important things to do. This allowed multiple civilian ships to escape the Reapers that wouldn't have escaped earlier.

 **Onboard the Prince of Wales Vice Admiral Fagaly watched as those ships hopefully loaded to the max with refugees headed out of the combat zone.** He nodded his head in approval as this plan was working, with one move he had gotten those ships and the people on them out of the combat zone. Now it was time for phase two.

Phase two began when the Citadel itself finished opening to all the way, for a moment nothing happened then with massive force the five arms of the Citadel broke away from the main center ring. As each one of the arms began to separate from the center ring, the lights of each of the buildings on the arms began to flicker as the arms began to loss power. Without the support of each other arms and the central ring none of the arms could maintain the power levels needed to keep the people on those arms alive. Without the needed power the mass effect barriers which kept both heat and air inside the Citadel began to fail. The only three parts of the Citadel to keep their barriers up where the center ring which could maintain its own power and the 2nd and 3rd arms. Those two arms where powered partly by the Tau'ri cruisers and Destroyers who moved into position to tow the arms away. While some protected tractor beams others sent powers from their naquadah cores to power the now free moving arms.

Those two arms slowly moved away from the other 3 arms and the center ring it became clear to everyone that those on the other arms had just gotten a death sentence. Power was failing and that meant so was the gravity plates, bodies began to float upward from the other arms as the millions of people began to die. It was worse for the Tau'ri ships towing the arms away, with their powerful sensors and cameras the onboard crews got good and detailed look. They could look down from above as people struggled to find a way out, a lot raised their hands up toward the Tau'ri ships hoping for a rescue. Some raised their children up hoping to save them but there was no rescue coming. Still others tried to fight pushing toward the nearest ship hoping to escape that way and others hugged loved ones one last time as death came for them.

"My God." whispered Ashley in horror as the Normandy headed between the Tau'ri cruisers and Destroyers which where towing away the two arms of the Citadel which had been selected to be saved. "Can't we do anything?"

"No, not really." answered Miranda as even she looked away from the screen full of the doomed people. "We don't have the room and we need what room we have to pull out Major Sheppard and the team he is with."

"What about the other ships right over there?" inquired Ashley

"Those ships are using their power to save those people over there." explained EDI "It is already taxing their systems to the extreme to pull those arms away from the combat zone. They can't save anyone else."

"Fuck." cursed Ashley as her eyes focused on the image of a blue skinned Asari woman holding up a baby toward the Normandy as it flew past. Her eyes full of fear, but not fear for herself but fear for the baby in her arms.

"Major Sheppard, we are nearing your position prepare for beam out." stated EDI

"Understood, get every beacon and everyone who is isn't a Reaper off this thing." Ordered Sheppard as he took cover along with the two Asari who had helped in in releasing the Citadel arms. He knew that he had just prevented the Reapers from bringing in their support ships loaded down with unknown number of ground soldiers and weapons to conquer the galaxy. That was a good and noble task but he knew that doing so he had just killed millions of people in the vacuum of space.

The Normandy rushed forward moving past the three Citadel arms which where heading the opposite direction heading away from the Citadel Presidium ring. The Presidium didn't look like the Presidium anymore, it now closer resembled a Super Gate. The multiple layers of docking arms had been ripped away my the separation of the Citadel arms showing the inner ring which would spin to lock in each glyphs when it was dialed. Even so there where holes in the ring as the five chevrons where no longer there, they had been attached to the Citadel arms. Three of those arms where now floating away from the center ring while two more arms where being slowly being toward away by the Tau'ri Cruisers and Destroyers. The Tau'ri where heading in the opposite direction away from the Relay and the Reapers heading back toward the Tau'ri carriers, as one the Eagle strike fighters, Condor Bombers and Taita fighter bombers all turned around and headed back toward their carriers. At the same time the battleships also turned and powered away from the Reapers, they joined the slowly moving cruisers and destroyers causing the two separated arms to speed away at an even greater speed. The Tau'ri where retreating and with their faster speed they where pulling away from the Reapers.

 **The last ship was actually the Normandy as it slowed down a bit to beam onboard Sheppard and the still living members of the Council chamber defenders.** For the defenders they suddenly found themselves outside of combat and instead in the cargo bay of the Normandy. Some of them still had weapons raised and others where taking cover. In one case a C-Sec officer had been transported while pulling the trigger and the round went off and slammed into a shield the Tau'ri had set up just in case this had happened.

"What just happened?" inquired Tali as she looked around at the cargo bay only to see multiple Tau'ri in combat dress, minus the face masks on their helmets standing near the wall.

"We where beamed onboard the Normandy." Answered Sheppard as he looked around at his fellow Tau'ri. As he did he lowered his rifle and turned on the safety, before taking off his helmet. As he did a fellow marine but one with a lot more experience then him had walked up to him.

"Sir, is everyone alright." Inquired Zaeed as Sheppard nodded his head and looked around at the stunned and confused Citadel members around him. Some where wounded others looked shell shock at what had just happened.

"Get Sam…Dr. O'Neill down here and get some food for everyone." Ordered Sheppard as he looked at everyone. "Get them whatever they need. I am heading to the bridge."

"Understood sir." confirmed Zaeed as Sheppard rushed toward the stairs, Sheppard wasn't surprised to see Garrus and Liara following him as he headed up to the bridge. He moved past armed guards, none of the marines moved to stop him or stop Garrus or Liara as they followed him up to the higher levels. They arrived as the Normandy passed by the other Tau'ri ships towing the two arms of the Citadel, two massive lifeboats carrying millions of people away from certain Death.

"Why haven't we gone to hyperspace?" inquired Sheppard

"Waiting on the fleet." explained Ashley as Garrus and Liara entered the cockpit area for the first time. All the other times the bridge had been sealed off from them, not now. It really didn't matter if they got a look at the flight control systems or the set up. It didn't matter because none of them where looking straight forward, instead their eyes where locked on a holographic display showing what was actually behind them. Behind them moving to get into firing range were the Reaper fighters and the faster warships, behind them the Capital ships where moving toward the now detached Citadel arms and the central ring all of whom where now 30 kilometers apart from each other and drifting away from each other.

As they watched three blinding flashes of light filled space, as three nuclear bombs exploded one of each of the Citadel arms. Each bomb exploded near the center of each arm, as the shock wave of each naquadah enhanced nuclear bombs split each of the arms into two making them useless to reassembly the super gate. The super gate itself was left untouched by the retreating Tau'ri, however that didn't matter to the Citadel members. Their eyes where locked on the three arms of the Citadel, they where breaking apart like ships on the ocean.

"By the Goddess." whispered Liara looking on as the greatest structure in the galaxy was torn apart before being blown up. "How many…how many people where on those arms?"

"No way to know for sure at the moment." answered EDI's voice "We estimate that on our two arms we have approximately 2.3 to 2.5 million civilians saved. We don't know the perfect numbers yet, our life sign detectors is having trouble ID each race, most of all the Hanar."

"There where 13 million people on the Citadel that means that we just saw over 10 million people just die." whispered Liara "10 million people are dead, we just saw 10 million people die."

Outside the Battleships and Carriers who had recovered their strike aircraft and now joined the rest of the fleet in towing the massive citadel arms away from the fleet gathered close in and prepared to go into hyperspace. They were closer than they would have liked but due to their size and the distance they had to travel it required the FTL power of the whole fleet was needed to transport the Citadel arms and their people away. The Reapers still lagging behind but gaining attempted to close the gap but before they got into range a massive vortex opened and with a burst of speed the Tau'ri along with the Citadel arms disappeared into hyperspace. Along with the Reaper fleet they left behind a warzone of destroyed ships, both Reapers and Citadel ships, three destroyed arms of the Citadel and millions of dead floating in space.

For a long moment no one on the bridge of the Normandy said anything as they looked out into the votex of hyperspace.

"Where are we going?" whispered Garrus wondering where fate was taking them.

"Omega." answered Sheppard as he looked toward EDI "How long?"

"Staying with the fleet and being slowed down by towing the Citadel arms, 5 hours." reported EDI

"Alright." said Sheppard as his whole body began to scream out for rest, his muscles wanted to reflex and he could smell himself through his armor. "Ashley I want you to make sure that everyone is taken care off, showers, food and a place to rest."

"Food may be a problem for the Turrians but we will do what we can for everyone else." stated Ashley as she looked toward Garrus. "Sorry, we just don't carry the food you need."

"That is fine, I don't think I can eat anything after seeing that." answered Garrus, his voice was weak and distant.

"EDI, how many Reapers did we destroy?" inquired Sheppard

"The information is still coming in but we have 37 confirmed Capital ships kills and another 42 ships have been damaged the state of them is unknown." Answered EDI "They could be repaired and brought back into the fight."

"So a tactical draw." Answered Miranda as Liara spun and looked at the other woman in appalled amazement.

"We just saw 10 million people die, that isn't what I would call a draw." countered Garrus

"Really, the Citadel fleet managed to pull out, you didn't loss all 13 million people, we cut them off from the stargate, so they will not be able to bring in their reinforcements and the forces which they sent to reinforce their Citadel attack force weren't used to attack Thessia. That delay will allow the defenses of that planet to position themselves and prepare to defend themselves." Countered Miranda coolly and with some detachment. "I hate to say this consider how many people are dead, and if I was in your shoe and that was full of Tau'ri civilians I would want to strangle me for saying this but this wasn't fully a defeat and we did manage to hurt the Reapers, I would call that a draw."

"Maybe." admitted Garrus "But it is different when it is your own people floating dead in space."

"I know that." confirmed Miranda showing some emotion "But we couldn't save them, we could only save what we could, and we did that."

"I know." Added Garrus before he turned and looked at Sheppard. "Excuses me, Major I need to see to my people."

"Of course, we will do everything we can to help." confirmed Sheppard before looking at everyone. "I'll be in my Cabin for a while, if you need me for anything don't hesitate to ask."

"Thank you, Sheppard." thanked Liara as Garrus nodded as he walked down the long corridor of the Normandy heading back to the lift which take him back down to the cargo hold where his people where.

"Sheppard you did what you could, you have nothing to sorry for." Added Ashley "We couldn't save them."

"I know, but I don't have to like it." Added Sheppard as he let out a sigh. "I am going to go clean up and try to get some sleep, if anything happens or Garrus and his people need me let me know."

"Will do." Confirmed Ashley

"Yes, Major." Added EDI as Sheppard turned and headed

 **While Sheppard was heading to get some rest, a man in slightly different armor who commanded a sister ship to the Normandy moved through a night club up toward an older Asari woman surrounded by body guards.** The music was still playing in Afterlife but no one was dancing, all the screens which had been showing dancing flames with the logo on it was showing news broadcasts of the Reaper attack. News broadcasts out of the Turrian home world of Palaven where the largest and strongest military in the galaxy was being forced back. News out of Thessia was that a small fleet of these Reaper ships had shown up as well but being so small of a force the Asari home fleet was forcing them back but at great costs. There had been no news out of the Citadel, only a few broadcasts about a massive Reaper fleet bigger then any other spotted attacking them. After the Reapers had arrived and the first reports of shots being exchanged all communications going out of the Citadel had come to a halt. That was unheard of, on any given day there was countless millions of broadcasts coming out of the Citadel. To have all that come to a stop was highly unsettling but not as much as the other images coming out the other planets currently under Reaper attack.

"So Garrus was right, the Reapers are real." Whispered Aria to herself as she watched the Turrian defense fleet get pounded on one of the larger screens. She allowed herself a moment of shock before her mind began to race. "They will come for Omega…we will have to improve our defenses but how? We already have the most cutthroat underhanded and brutal warriors in the galaxy. What can we do to improve that?"

"How about more advance technology." Said a voice from behind her as she spun around cursing herself and most of all her guards for allowing him to get so close. Standing there in his battle armor minus the helmet was Colonel Drugo of the Tau'ri. "How would you like to have two defense plateforms which can punch a hole through a Reaper ship with one shot."

"I would like that a lot." Admitted Aria as she looked back toward the images of a Turian Dreadnought firing at Reaper Capital Ship, the hit did some damage but the Reaper was still fully intact and still in the fight. "But sorry going through one of those Reapers in one shot is something I would find a hard time believing."

"Well believe it." Said Drugo as he handed over a computer pad to Aria who looked down to see a feed from the battle at the Citadel. It showed video of strange black ships, not Reapers firing on Reapers to the side she could make out the Citadel and then on the screen a Reaper Capital ship similar to one taking on the Turian home fleet was destroyed. "This is a recording of our main weapon onboard one of our battleships, the one on each of the defense platforms we want to set up here is about 4 times stronger."

"And why would I get these? And better yet what do I have to give you to get these?" inquired Aria "Nothing comes for free most of all weapons that can blow up Reapers?"

"I could give you the political bull which command wants me to but I'll tell you flat out." stated Drugo as he crossed his arms over his armor. "We as in the Tau'ri are basically going to take over this system for the moment and use it as a forward operational area and defensive point against the Reapers."

"No one takes Omega from me." growled Aria as her hands became covered with biotic energy as she prepared to rip the head off this Tau'ri.

"Aside from the Reapers when they come and with the Citadel gone where do you think Omega will be on their list?" countered Drugo as he tried not to notice the biotic energy gathering around Aria hands. "Omega is a center of trade, crime yes but trade none the less, a large source of Element zero and once the Reapers take down some of the major worlds they will come for your kingdom."

"True." admitted Aria as she calmed down a bit as she thought about it, a grin coming to her face. "And with these weapons and the Tau'ri fleet this place will become the safest place in the galaxy. And that will bring business to me."

"And during a war, prices go up." added Drugo as sweetened the pot.

"True." confirmed Aria

"And with the Citadel destroyed…" started Drugo

"Wait…" interrupted Area "The Citadel is destroyed?"

"Yes, the Tau'ri task group while it was pulling out exploded three nuclear warheads on three of the arms and they are towing the other two arms to this system." answered Drugo "This place is going to become the center of the effort to liberate your galaxy, a lot of supplies from our galaxy and your galaxy will be coming through here. That gives you a great opportunity to gain more power, in fact I wouldn't be surprised if your Council itself sets up a government in exile here."

"Great just what I need those uptight bastards running around my place." stated Aria

"Yes, but this will be your place and having the backing of the Tau'ri will sure help you make sure they stay inline and out of your…" Drugo paused for a moment and looked at Aria's fins on the top of her head. "well I would say hair but you don't have any. Besides would you rather deal with them or deal with the Reapers."

"Them." Grumbled Aria

"Besides once we set up the super gate most of the civilian refugees will likely be evacuated out of this galaxy." stated Drugo

"What?" inquired Aria

"Once we set up our super gate in that nearby system that you and the council gave us we will start bringing in our warships and evacuation your civilians out of the combat zone." Stated Drugo

"And how long will it take you to set up your super gate?" inquired Aria

"All the pieces are premade, it only has to be assembled." explained Drugo "If we used the ORI design only a few hours but that design has a bad habit of exploding so our design is different. I would have to guess a week to 10 days or so, if we move at our normal rate. However we will not be taking our time, so rush job shave 2 to 3 days off that."

"So for one of your weeks we are on our own and how long is one of your weeks?" inquired Aria as Drugo blinked in confusion before grinning.

"Sorry, I keep forgetting you would have no idea how long our time is…a week is 7 days, a day is 24 hours. I believe your Citadel ran on a 27.6 hour day by our system." explained Drugo

"It's the same time set up as Thessia, my people found the Citadel they set the time." stated Aria before nodding her head. "I'll ask a Salarian to give me a more detail time frame, but I get a general idea of the time frame we are looking at, now just when will your forces arrive?"

"Look out a window, they are already here." Answered Drugo with a smirk as Aria pulled up her data pad and hit a few commands only to pull up an view of the space outside Omega. Space was surrounded by a fleet of warships, her eyes widened none of her alarms had gone off. Then her eyes widened even more as she spotted a true giant of a ship near the center of this fleet, it had to be 10 times the size of a dreadnought almost 10 Kilometers long.

"By the Goddess what sort of firepower does that ship have?" inquired Aria as she pointed to the giant ship. Drugo who had moved to her side, grinned as she pointed at the ship.

"Not a fucking lot, that is the Prometheus a deep space recon ship and almost 3 quarters of it is nothing but cargo hold." Explained Drugo "That is why it is so big, most of it is actually empty now. It carried the ships of our task force across the void between galaxies to get here."

Then before her eyes, the belly of this massive ship opened and out came ten ships almost dreadnought in size. Eight of them moved away from the fleet before disappearing into vortex of energy while two others moved closer to the relay before opening up. She watched for a while as large pieces of some sort of structure was being unloaded and assembled in space.

"Well things are getting interesting that is for sure." stated Aria

"You have no idea." confirmed Drugo

 **Back in the Milky way Galaxy President Carter was looking over the data of Reapers, the Furlings and a reports from Vice Admiral Fagaly, Daniel and Admiral Hackett.**

"10 million people dead." Said Carter as she looked at that number, it was horrifying to her. Even if it happened multiple galaxies over, to species she had only seen images of it was still horrifying.

"That is what we are driving home to the people but truth be told I wouldn't be surprised if some in Congress wants us to cut our losses and pull out." Admitted an adviser "It is so far away, happening to Aliens and it isn't like the Colonials where we were attacked first. Or even with the Race where it was right in our own backyard, most people sadly will not care all that much."

"Like how people used to not care about genocides or starvation in Africa a generation ago." added General Leong as she drank some tea, as she sat across from the President. "Military wise, we are not in a good position. Our forces over there are operating at the end of a very long supply chain. In truth, no supply chain, once we get the stargate built we are better but we will still be running a massive military operation through a single stargate. That is tricky but we can do it. The ORI factions are fighting each other again so we don't have to worry there, the Wraith well there are some small bands on the run through the gate but local powers are more than enough to handle them, the break up of the Lucian Alliance and Free Jaffa nations are going as we forecast they would."

"Those people just can't get along and stay, together can they?" inquired another aid to Carter's right.

"Well they have spent thousands of years fighting each other or united only by a false god who generally kept most of them on a single planet only the Jaffa warriors and traders really left their home worlds." Added an expert from Daniel Jackson University. "It was just like us in the medieval age in Europe, most peasants never left a day journey of where they where born. Outside of times or war that is."

"Still they aren't a threat and the Cylons are well…the Cylons and are generally very helpful to us and are still happy to relive the beating we gave their former slavers. The Colonials are acting more and more like members of our alliance every day." stated General Leong "Terrorists activity have dropped another 15% so far this year and that is on Sagittarian of all places."

"Still that isn't a place to vacation." stated another aid

"True, but this looks like it will mostly be a navy show along with special forces." stated General Leong "I don't see 3rd armor rolling off Mars to go to this Thessia or Palaven."

"True." Confirmed Carter "However we need to protect Earth and our galaxy, we can not allow these Reapers access to our hyperdrive or worse yet a super gate capable of reaching our galaxy."

"I agree and with your permission I want to deploy Five black hole bombs." Requested General Leong

"Five, I thought your plan was to use one to destroy the Reaper support ships? Why do you need a second?" inquired Carter

"Madam, President these bombs are the most powerful weapon of destruction we have with the possible exception of the Ragnarok and we keep them locked up for good reason." explained General Leong "To get them ready for deployment takes hours and we may not have time for that. I want to deploy one through the ORI super gate to attack the Reapers, so that our gate address isn't discovered but I want two more on standby. In in the Torch galaxy to destroy the gate there and one more at each super gate, we will destroy the network if we have to and the blackhole bomb is the best we have to do that in space."

Carter paused for a moment, thinking. The top secret armory which contained all 25 of the blackhole bombs so far ever made had multiple layers of defense to prevent anyone from getting ahold of those weapons in a quick amount of time. Still five bombs would be 20% of their total supply of blackhole bombs and once outside their armory the bombs would be less defended, defended yes but less so. If any terrorist got ahold of them horrible wouldn't even be the start of how bad it would be. Still if the Reapers did manage to get through the super gate a quick deployment of those bombs might save the galaxy.

"Approved." confirmed Carter "Deploy the warheads and prepare the fleets for deployment as well."

"Yes, Madam President." Confirmed General Leong

"Also I want to speak to some of the people from this galaxy, the gate on the Prometheus should be able to carry a small delegation from their galaxy back her." ordered Carter

"Of course Madam President." Confirmed the PR person. "I will arrange it."

"Good." Said Carter as she wondered again why she allowed herself to run for President in the 1st case and better yet why she was running for a second term.

 **Sorry for the long delay, I will not explain everything that happened which slowed me down however let's just say my life has been nothing but back to back work and other emergencies. I will give only a single example so you get a hint of what I have been doing, the same person crashed the network at the place I work 3 times in two weeks which means calls in for me in one case at 3am. So that being said I hope you enjoy this chapter and let's hope the emergencies are over. Now until next time please keep reading. Thanks Wilkins75**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12 Getting the Pieces**

Sheppard stepped out of his private shower in his quarters and even before he got fully dressed, he popped some aspirin to help with the sore muscles. His battle armor still lied on the floor along with the uniform he had been wearing. He glanced at it for a moment, seeing the blood stains and the battle scars. With a resign sigh, he picked up his armor and weapons placing both in a special compartment beside wardrobe. Once everything was in the compartment, he pressed a button as a plastic shield dropped down, once it place a fine mist filled the area as the armor/weapons became covered with nano bots which would clean and repair them both down to the micro level in a span of about 4 hours. With that done he finished getting into a pair of pants and a simple T-shirt, his jacket sat on the back of his desk chair as he moved to sit on the tinny couch in his cabin. It was even a joke to call it a couch it could maybe hold two people and sat the path between his desk by the door and his bed. Still it was better then everyone else on the ship, with the only one close being the second officer's cabin a deck below.

"Would Jacob still be second in command or would Miranda be second in command?" inquired Sheppard out load to himself.

"Major do you need me?" said EDI's voice from a nearby panel, she monitored everything on the ship aside from the bathrooms and even then, she had auto monitoring controls but no visual.

"Not really do you know who is technically second in command now?" inquired Sheppard

"We are in a little bit of a catch 22 Major, Dr. Lawson as 3rd in command of the scientific mission is Jacob's Taylor boss however standard orders is that Jacob while onboard is in charge after yourself sir." Explained EDI "In practice however Dr. Lawson has already claimed the second officer's cabin as her own. So it would seam that she is the second command."

"Alright, I'll deal with that when we transfer her back to the Prometheus." Stated Sheppard as he picked up his data pad and checked the command internet. While they where way to far out to get nearly instant updates from the rest of the Tau'ri space, the net had a daily update. The bulk of the headlines didn't cover news from home but instead the Reapers, the image of an Asari "mother" holding up her baby to be rescued even as they both died. He didn't want to see that image or the video of the nuclear flashes, so he moved down the page to hit the recorded broadcasts from Earth.

"Maybe a football game will…God damn it!" cursed Sheppard as right there beside the title of the game he was going to watch was the final blowout loss of the game he was going to watch. "Never mind that…I'll just put on a show to get my mind off."

He had just started a show to get his mind off everything that had happened and what he had seen when EDI paused the holographic display in front of him which was playing the anime he had just started.

"Major Sheppard, sorry but you have a request from Liara T'Soni to speak with you." Reported EDI

"Alright allow her to come up." answered Sheppard as he got up and moved up toward his office area and threw on his jacket. He had just finished the last couple of buttons when the door opened and Liara walked into his cabin, she paused for a moment studying everything around her. It was a tiny space, a bathroom shower area near the door she was at, an office area beside that and a bed and dressing area down a few steps. Along one wall was a screen paused on something she had never seen before, it looked like a drawing of a black-haired man wielding swords fighting against a giant of a man but the 1st man was flying through the air.

"A broadcast of some kind?" inquired Liara

"A recording of show I loved as a kid even though my mother hated that I watched it." explained Sheppard as he looked at the anime before him. "Attack on Titan, my mother used to yell at me when she found me watching it. I never told her Uncle Ronan had let me borrow it."

"When I was a child my mother caught me digging up a local park trying to uncover a Prothean artifact that I knew had to be there." stated Liara as she remembered the memory "She yelled at me and the next day bought me my first archaeology book."

"And I am sure your father loved it." Laughed Sheppard as Liara looked at him for a moment slightly confused at the statement.

"You did read the information we gave you about the Asari and the other races?" inquired Liara as Sheppard looked slightly ashamed.

"Not fully, lots of information to go through and I personally focused on the military issues because that would be what I have to deal with." admitted Sheppard

"Well I can't say I blame you, I haven't gone through all your stuff either." admitted Liara as Sheppard got the opinion that Liara was avoiding talking about what they had just seen. He couldn't blame her for that, he hadn't wanted to think about it which was why he had picked an anime had had seen dozens of times. He wanted to turn his brain off for a while before getting some sleep. "Well, Asari have no male gender so we have no fathers as you would say it."

"I see, that is different. So are you clones?" inquired Sheppard "Because the Asgard where we are from tried that and after thousands of years the copies broke down and they died out."

"Well no, we are not clones per say we take DNA samples from our patterns and use that to randomize the code and since Asari live for a 1000 years." explained Liara "I am only 109 myself."

"Only a 109, a generation ago 109 year old human would likely be the oldest human on Earth." stated Sheppard "On Athos, they would have been eaten by the Wraith long before that. We can reach those ages now but still 109 is plenty old by our standards."

"Well Salarians live for only 40 years or so and Turians only for….." started Liara only to pause "But those people on the Citadel, they didn't live full lives they all died."

"Yes, your galaxy is at war." answered Sheppard as he looked around for a moment thinking. "Why don't you sit down on the couch."

"No I don't want to intrude." Started Liara

"Just do it, it is clear you have questions." answered Sheppard as he sat down at his desk chair for a moment, before pulling a bottle of Jack Daniels from the bottom draw. "I have some alcohol if you want it, but it is kind of strong."

"I need strong right now." confirmed Liara as Sheppard nodded his head and poured two drinks before putting the bottle away. He walked over to the couch where Liara had sat down offering her a glass which she took, he made no move to sit beside her on the tight couch and instead moved to sit on the small outcrop which contained the TV, bookcase which covered the side wall of his cabin. He smiled as Liara sniffed the Jack before taking a tiny amount before making a face.

"It is a required taste, but I like it." admitted Sheppard "Now, ask me whatever you want and I will answer them as best as I can. On second thought don't ask me anything top secret, I can't tell you that but I will do what I can."

"Could we…could we have saved those people on the Citadel?" inquired Liara "All those people died and yet you have the technology to tow two whole arms of the Citadel to Omega."

"And we are tasking ourselves doing so." admitted Sheppard as he turned back to the first question. "Could we have held off the Reapers? Yes…if we had the whole 7th fleet with us or another one of our main fleets we could have held them off until dooms day. The issue is we don't have any of the fleets with us at the moment."

"So why would Omega be safe?" inquired Liara

"We are setting up our defense platforms, those things can tear apart any known ships even our battleships." stated Sheppard "Given the bottle neck your FTL has we can focus their fields of fire and defenses ships and hold back any Reaper assault outside of a full assault and even then it would cost them heavily."

"Bottle neck what do you mean?" inquired Liara

"From my understanding when you travel by Mass Relay you come out near another mass Relay." Inquired Sheppard as Liara nodded her head.

"I see what you mean, you know the area any ships are likely to come in so you can focus all your fire there." stated Liara as Sheppard nodded his head. "We have defense platforms like that around Thesisa and Palavan had more of the same didn't seem to do anything."

"If I can ask, how do you think your council will react to what just happened?" inquired Sheppard

"Not well, some will want to have you all arrest for using nuclear weapons to destroy the Citadel." Explained Liara "I must admit, I don't like it even if I knew you where trying to prevent the Reapers from using them. It still killed millions."

"Millions who were already died or soon to be." countered Sheppard with a sigh as he took a long pull on his glass. "Cold comfort for sure, even with the atmosphere failing on the arms and Reapers over running the position I am sure some where killed directly by the nuclear blast. Fuck we didn't nuke the actually ring itself, that would have set them back a lot more, but we kept that intact to protect the Furlings."

"The Keepers you mean?" inquired Liara as Sheppard nodded his head.

"They are one of the founding members of the Alliance of Races and beside the Nox the only remaining original member race of that great alliance." explained Sheppard "I wouldn't be surprised if the Vice Admiral took that into consideration for his targets, or he didn't know the results of a nuke going off on that amount of Naquadah and Zephry or Element Zero as you call it. Last time we expoloded a naquadah bomb on a despot of Naquadah we destroyed half a planet."

"What?" inquired Liara her eyes widening at the news. "You destroyed half a planet with a single bomb?"

"Yes, by accident true." admitted Sheppard "Dropped a nuclear bomb on a natural despot of Naquadah and the chain reaction was so powerful it turned half a planet into a nuclear wasteland of molten rock and sent pieces of the crust into orbit. Thank God it was an ice ball world and the nearest population center was on the other side of the planet, so civilian casualties where low comparatively."

Before Sheppard could add anything his data pad beeped as he turned his attention away from Liara to his data pad. He looked over the information for a moment before looking back up at Liara.

"President Carter wants to meet representatives from your races." Explained Sheppard "Admiral Hackett just sent me the mission, since your team is onboard he wants you to make contact with your government to make the arrangements."

"Question is how to make contact with them, without the Citadel they would likely head toward Thessia only that is under attack, after that Palaven." stated Liara

"Which is under heaver attack." noted Sheppard

"So likely Sur'Kesh that is the Salarian homeward." Stated Liara

"And likely the very next target." Added Sheppard as he stood up. "We better go find Garrus, he will have to be the point man on this."

"Agreed, he is the hero of the galaxy and a symbol of hope but we will need more then a symbol we will need support and a lot of luck." Admitted Liara as she stood up.

"Well there is a good chance that the Tau'ri fleet will be behind you." stated Sheppard "however it will take time to get them here. President Carter isn't going to sit back and allow trillions of people to die while not doing everything in her power to stop it."

"I just hope we as a galaxy can come together." Admitted Liara

"How so?" inquired Sheppard

"Turian and Salarians will not work with the Krogans who are the best soldiers in the galaxy, the Turians hate every council member, the Baratains likewise hate the Council and that isn't even going into the relationship with the Quarin Migrant fleet." Explained Liara "And we will need everyone to defeat the Reapers."

"Well, President Carter will want to meet all the Races and maybe an outside member who isn't beholden to any other race and hasn't wrong any other race will be able to make a deal?" offered Sheppard

"Worth a shot, but I am not sure it will work and considering that 10 million people are dead at the Citadel some may say you are at fault for that." stated Liara as she shook her head. "They will not want to admit that they share at least some of the blame, they knew about the Reaper threat since Sovereign attacked years ago and they did next to nothing."

"Sometimes it takes a problem knocking at the door to make people do what has to be done." Advised Sheppard as he and Liara stepped into the lift and headed down to find Garrus.

 **It was around that time that what remained of the Citadel defense fleet exited the Omega relay only to find themselves facing down a large number of unknown ships.** Alarms began going off as the Captains of the damaged ships prepared to do battle once again only to stop when their onboard computers matched the haul profiles of the ships to their limited scans of Tau'ri ships.

"Commander Mutis I am detecting 18 dreadnought size ships and one…by the goddess I have never seen a ship that size before or even one designed that size." Stated the Sensor operator as the multiple images of the Tau'ri dreadnoughts appeared along with long rectangle shaped ships which while as large as Dreadnoughts didn't seam as deadly. The image of what had to be defense platforms but of a style unknown to the Citadel races where being assembled nearby. While the massive number of ships of a type and style unknown to the Citadel forces was unsettling what was breathtaking was the size of the largest ship which sat in the heart of this fleet.

"Give me a scan of that monster." Ordered Commander Mutis as the powerful sensors of the Destiny Accession turned their attention to it. Commander Mutis's eyes widened as the ship which over shadowed the Destiny Accession came up in closer detail. It was nearly 12 Kilometers long and over a kilometer wide, the sheer size of the ship was something no one in Citadel Space had ever dreamed of constructing.

"Citadel Fleet this is Prometheus control please come in." said a Tau'ri voice over the communication channel. "Please advance toward the center of the fleet, we have cleared the cargo bay for your damaged ships so that they can be brought onboard for repairs."

"Prometheus control this is Commander Mutis, Citadel fleet please explain what you mean?" inquired Commander Mutis

"Commander Mutis, this is Admiral Hackett commander of the Prometheus's exploratory mission." said a different Tau'ri voice "The Promethea's is the massive ship, I am sure you have spotted on sensors. While it is massive the bulk of the ship is a 10-kilometer-wide cargo hold capable of holding the enter fleet before you. It is cleared so your ships can use it as a dry dock."

"I understand Admiral Hackett, what is the status at the Citadel?" inquired Commander Mutis

"Commander...the Citadel has been destroyed." stated Admiral Hackett as the entire bridge crew of the Destiny Ascension gasped. "The Tau'ri task force did manage to extract and bring into hyperspace two of the Citadel arms. Current estimate is just under 3 million citizens where rescued the rest were sadly unable to be saved. They are three hours out from this location, pulling the arms in hyperspace has slowed down their speed."

"So we lost 10 million people." stated Commander Mutis, she had a lot of friends who lived on the Citadel including her mate. Her thoughts turned to her wondering if she was among the living.

"Sadly yes, you have our condolences Commander we did everything we could but there was no way we could hold the space and the Citadel itself had been boarded. We evacuated what we could and destroyed what we could to prevent the enemy from using it." explained Hackett "I have the combat report onboard the Prometheus, I request you and some of your highest-ranking officers join me onboard so that we can plan the next phase of this war."

"Alright." Said Commander Mutis "Let me contact the officers I will need and the Citadel Council. They will want to know about this as well."

"I understand, we will await your arrival, Hackett out." Said Hackett as the link was cut.

"Get me whoever is the highest ranking Turian and Salarian who is left alive and have them prepare to head toward this Tau'ri ship, have our most damaged ships head toward it as well to use this "dry dock" of theirs." Ordered Commander Mutis

"Madam, if I may." Whispered her second officer "What if this is a trap?"

"And if it is what can we do about it?" inquired Commander Mutis as she took in the sight of the Tau'ri warships around her forces. The Tau'ri had as much firepower here as she had ever outside of the Combined Pavalen defense fleet, that fleet was larger than even the Citadel fleet. "We are beaten up, over half the fleet is gone and half of what is left can barely stay afloat. We have maybe a quarter to a third of our firepower left, we are in no condition to fight at the moment. We need a safe harbor and right now this is it."

"Understood Commander." Said the second officer before adding "I must admit, I agree with you and besides they could have destroyed us when we exited the Relay and they haven't. Besides could they be worse than the Reapers?"

"Get a coded message off to the Council and every command that we are safe and regrouping at Omega." Ordered Commander Mutis as the Destiny Accession ship mounted cameras got a good image of the cargo bay on the Prometheus, it was indeed a massive hold which could hold whole ships inside it. Some of the more damaged ships where already heading inside before they could fall apart. "Get a shuttle ready as well, I want to leave in five minutes."

The speed at which the Citadel shuttles launched from their flagships caught Admiral Hackett by surprise, he had expected them to take their time. With civilizations without beaming technology he found as a general rule that it took them 10 to 15 minutes to leave but just over five minutes after the communication link was cut they sent messages that they where on their way. The Salarians would be the last to arrive not because they where slower but because their dreadnought was farther away from the Prometheus.

For his Part Admiral Hackett stood in the main hanger of the Prometheus, while a ship of discovery and exploration it still had some teeth. A flight of Eagle fighters sat in their bays white air-to-air missile under their wings. Owl transports and larger Condors bombers also sat in their bays, an honor guard of marines prepared to welcome the Citadel Race officers. Their shuttles reminded Hackett strangely of cars, they were sloped along the top and coming out of the sides in four tiny arms where engines which propelled the shuttles to a stop.

The side doors opened to the first shuttle as a blue skinned woman, dressed in a skin-tight black leather looking armor stepped out. Over that armor was hardened panels but she wasn't armed as far as Hackett could see. Beside her came another woman, this one blue as well but with a slight greenish tone to her skin. Behind her came another blue woman only this one in much heavier white armor and holding a rifle in her hand, a marine of some kind.

"Commander Mutis, I believe." Guessed Hackett to the Asari who stepped off first.

"Yes, are you Admiral Hackett?" inquired Commander Mutis as she eyed this grey haired Tau'ri male in front of her, dressed in white fabrics with silver trim.

"I am, welcome to the Prometheus." welcomed Hackett as the second shuttle arrived, a twin to the first in every way aside from the paint job. Out of this bird came three bird like aliens, with a lot more armor and both of them holding an assault rifle in his three fingered hand.

"Command Mutis good to see you made it out alive as well." Said the unarmed Turian without even looking Admiral Hackett even as his second officer or guard scanned the lines of Eagle Fighters and other strike aircraft in their bays along with the armed guards.

"Captain Vaninic this is Admiral Hackett of the Tau'ri and this is his ship, the Prometheus." Introduced Commander Mutis as the Turian eyed this human who had never seen before. In fact outside of the video of the Tau'ri he had never seen a human before.

"I see, you build your ships at an extremely large scale." Stated Captain Vaninic as he talked down to this new unworthily alien. "This ship is a huge target for any enemy."

"Well that is why it is surrounded by a task force of ships." Countered Admiral Hackett as the third shuttle landed in the hanger, causing the air around them to swirl. "Besides this ship isn't design to slug it out with enemy ships, that is what the battleships are for."

"Ah…I see Captain Vaninic is making friends as usual." Said a new voice as a big eyed salarian came out of his shuttle, like the others he had two guards and one was armed with a pistol which was resting at his hip. "This isn't the time for bickering, this is a time to work together for the common good."

"Thank you." Said Hackett

"No, I must thank you Admiral Hackett the percentage of our forces getting out of that battle had shrunk to below five percent until your forces arrived." Said the Salarian as he spoke at a very rapid rate. "Sorry, I forgot to introduce myself, I am Commander Ulian of the Salarian defense group."

"Commander, I recommend that we head to the war room so that we can better discuss our plans." Offered Hackett

"Agreed." Confirmed Mutis as Hackett turned and headed toward the exit passing by the honor guard of Tau'ri Marines who stood at attention. The armed guards of the Citadel forces stayed behind as only the commanders and a single aid followed Hackett into the ship. The hallways had been semi-cleared for their mission, Hackett wasn't about to stop people from carrying out their jobs, but the highly classified research had their doors sealed and in the case of Doctor Rush's research he had four armed and battle armor wearing marines by his research door. Their job was more to keep Rush inside his lab and out of Hackett's hair then actually making sure that the Citadel races didn't see something they weren't suppose to.

"Admiral Hackett, if I may Prometheus that sounds like a persons name?" inquired Commander Ulian as he moved up to Hackett's side, the tall thin big eye alien was a little off putting to Hackett but he had dealt with stranger. "Can you tell me where it comes from?"

"Prometheus is was a god once worshiped on our home world Earth." Explained Hackett even though he wasn't sure if Prometheus was a god or a titan, he wasn't going to confuse the salarian with that details. "Legends goes that he took pity on mankind and stole the gift of fire and metal work from the gods and gave it to mankind."

"I see, so this Prometheus is a sharer of knowledge one could say?" inquired Ulian

"Yes, one could say that." Confirmed Hackett as they reached one of the meeting rooms onboard the massive ships. It wasn't the official main meeting room, that was located near the bridge and a much greater walk to and from the hanger. This one near the hanger was a twin to that in every way beside this one having paint on the walls instead of wood paneling, so to save time and make the Citadel races calmer being closer to their shuttles they would meet here. It had a long wood rectangle table with a single metal strip running down the center. At each seat was a wireless dock to attach Tau'ri designed computers to the main holographic display built into the table. There was of course a large wall mounted holographic display on one wall which was currently off showing the off-white walls. Along the back wall behind the head of the table sat a wall mounted metal seal, the ships own seal along with two Tau'ri flags on a pole to either side of the seal. Two aids stood by those flags neither of them armed but ready to help their Admiral if needed. Sitting beside the head of the table with his back to the wall mounted hologram was an older man, with some gray hairs mixed in with his brown. He had been looking at his data pad when they entered only to stand up.

"Welcome, please be seated." Welcomed Hackett as he guided the new comers to seats across from the brown-haired man. "This is Doctor McKay or head researcher on this mission, sadly Dr. Daniel Jackson the head of our mission will not be joining us. He is on board the Battleship Prince of Wales currently towing the Citadel arms to our location and their systems are too tasked for a holographic connection to us. I will cut with the pleasantries because of the current situation before us. Your galaxy is at war and we have stumbled into it alongside you, how can we help?"

"Last reports is that the Reapers are in at least 3 major systems, our home systems." Said Commander Mutis as she looked at the Turian "And of course the Citadel."

"Add to that we have gathered some brief reports of massive Reaper forces in Bararian space." Added the Salarian Commander Ulian "If only half the reports are true then the Bararian took the full force of the Reapers."

"That makes sense, Spetre Vakarian had information that the Reapers where coming in from that region of space." added Captain Vaninic "They would be hit first and take the full force, if I was the Reaper commander I would have stayed in Baratian space and cleared them out before moving on. Having three forces stuck behinds lines isn't anything a tactician would recommend."

"I would have to disagree." stated Admiral Hackett as the Turian glared at him. Hackett had had some time to study the Turian and other battle tactics of races in this galaxy. They were much more static think with fixed lines then Tau'ri where. They were nowhere near as static thinking as Colonial Military had been who had been basically stuck in WW1 thinking. "Striking at the heart of your enemy command and control such as your capitals. Same for hitting the Citadel in combination with the fact that the Citadel was a super gate."

"A what?" inquired Captain Mutis

"A super gate, the center ring I believe you called it the Presidium is what we call a Super Gate." Stated Admiral Hackett as he looked toward Dr. McKay.

"In our galaxy, in fact every galaxy we have been to outside of your own there was been a series of devices called Stargates." Started McKay as a holographic image of a stargate appeared in the center of the table. "These devices where built by the Ancients and spread across each galaxy they visited and once dialed they open a wormhole between the two stargates allowing transportation across light years in micro seconds. They are the backbone of intergalactic travel in every galaxy we have been."

"You have this?" inquired Captain Mutis

"We have one on this ship, we brought it with us from our galaxy." Explained Admiral Hackett "It is our plan to use it to evacuate civilians out of the combat zone to our galaxy where for the will be far away from the Reapers."

"How many people can you take through this stargate?" inquired Commander Ulian

"The Stargate can remain open for 33 minutes before it shuts down." Answered McKay "After that we can redial almost right away and open it again and send the next group through."

"So we can move a lot of civilians out of harm way while bringing in supplies from your galaxy." Stated Commander Ulian as he nodded his salarian head "I like it, I like it a lot."

"Well we can bring in supplies however the wormhole is only one way at any given time, we can't send people through both ends of the stargate at one time." Explained McKay

"Well that is disappointing." Stated Commander Ulian "Still bringing in more troops will be helpful."

"At the moment at least we will not be sending troops through the gate." Stated Admiral Hackett "They will do little good at the moment."

"The millions of people fighting right now on Palaven and others worlds would disagree with you." Countered Captain Vaninic.

"And what will a few hundred troops will do on a broad front like that at the moment." Countered Hackett "We simply can't move in the forces as fast as we need to through the gate while still evacuating civilians. We are operating at the end of a long supply chain now we need to focus on what will give us the most bang for our buck. That isn't troops now, that is nuclear weapons that we can beam onboard the Reaper capital ships. Destroying them is more important at the moment."

"I would have to agree with that." Confirmed Commander Utian "So the Reapers have this Super gate thing in that was hidden in our Citadel?"

"No, not really when we destroyed the arms we left behind we stopped them from opening the super gate and allowing their own super gate located in the void between galaxies from opening up to bring in reinforcements they have in the void between this galaxy and the next." Explained Hackett as he looked at his watch. "In fact the operation to destroy that fleet should begin within the hour."

"You are going to destroy a whole Reaper fleet within an hour?" inquired Captain Vaninic "I don't see how you can do it as easily as you claim."

"We could destroy the entire Reaper fleet over your home world in about 30 seconds Captain if we wanted to." Stated Admiral Hackett "It would involve exploded your star with a micro black hole and causing a supernova which would destroy the entire system and every living soul there."

For a moment none of the Citadel members spoke.

"Our plan is to use this type of bomb to destroy the Reaper fleet far away form any living soul and at the same time prevent them from getting reinforcements." Stated Hackett "At the same time we are assembling our own super gate, once that is assembled we will be able to bring in our ships and other forces in enough numbers to carry out large scales offense operations."

"And how long will that take?" inquired Commander Mutis

"We have already started but we are looking at 5 days at the earliest." Stated Hackett "In the meantime, our President wants to meet with your leaders to better form a plan to defeat the Reapers and prevent them from becoming a threat to other galaxies."

"Knowing the Council, they will want to have a meeting before anything gets done." Admitted Commander Mutis with some distain in her voice. "In times like this we can't wait for politicians to spend days debating over stupid items."

"I don't expect any of that from President Carter, she was a military General for a long time and is one of our greatest heroes. She knows time is key." explained Admiral Hackett as an aid which had been standing behind him moved forward and leaned forward and whispered into his ear. "Thanks Tom, put them on."

"Yes, Sir." confirmed the Aid as Hackett turned around and looked away from the group, within seconds holographic images of another Tau'ri in a more relax dress appeared. He wasn't alone beside him also in a hologram from was Spectre Vakarian.

"Admiral, Sir." Said the Tau'ri as he snapped to attention and raised one hand to his eyebrow and saluted the higher-ranking officer.

"Major Sheppard, good job so far." said Hackett before he turned his eyes toward the Turian. "Spectre Garrus Vakarian, I have read some of your duty reports the public ones at least and you and your team have done some amazing feats."

"Thank you Admiral, we would all be dead if your people hadn't beamed us onboard the Normandy before the Citadel fell." added Garrus

"It was no issue, now Major you reported you had news about the upcoming meeting between President Carter and the other leaders of this galaxy?" inquired Hackett

"Yes, sir." Confirmed Major Sheppard "Liara, an Asari on Garrus' team informed me that any meeting of the council races would leave out some of the major powers in this galaxy, notably the Krogans, Quarians and the Geth."

"Is there a reason?" inquired Dr. McKay more to the Citadel races across from him then to the young man he had known since before he could walk.

"Those races are not members of the Citadel and they have a bad history with the Council." Explained Commander Mutis

"And at the moment, none of that matters." stated Admiral Hackett

"Agreed, we need to move forward and right now old grudges need to be put aside most of all with the Quarians." Stated Commander Ulian as the Salarian leader.

"Sir, with all due respect the Quarians may have a largest fleet because of the Migrant fleet but if we want real power to fight the Reapers we need the best fighters in the galaxy we need the Krogans." Stated Garrus

"And how do you expect to get the Krogans to work with us in any real way?" inquired Captain Vaninic "After the Krogan war, genophage and everything else they have no reason to help us."

"Agreed." Stated Commander Ulian

"Sir, Sam…sorry Doctor Carter talked a little about curing this Genophage that the Krogans have." Offered Sheppard "Maybe curing them will get them to help the other races of this galaxy."

"Wrex would be open to that." added Garrus "He is a major leader of the Krogans and with a cure for the genophage it would be easy to get the rest of the clans to join him in fighting the Reapers."

"Never, we can never have the Krogan Genophage cure it would doom the galaxy for decades of war." Stated Commander Ulian

"From the reports I have seen from Palaven it may be worth the trouble of curing the Genophage to bring the Krogans into the fight." Countered Captain Vaninic "However that would have to be something for the Primarch to decided not me."

"Primarch?" inquired Hackett

"The leader of our people." Answered Captain Vaninic "I assume it is similar in roles to your President."

"And where is he or her?" inquired Admiral Hackett

"Palaven." Answered Captain Vaninic

"Well then Major, take the Normandy and head to Palaven rescue or make contact with the Primarch. If possible, bring him to this war council." ordered Hackett "If you need resupplies draw them from the rest of the fleet, do what you can to help the Turian forces there but you main mission is to retrieve if possible the Primarch."

"Yes, sir." Confirmed Sheppard as the holograms disappeared as Hackett turned back to his guests.

"Now we need to talk about what to do in the meantime." Stated Hackett "I can't release much of my task force, I need it to hold the line here while we build the gate to bring in reinforcements. I fully expect a Reaper attack on this system before to long."

"How so Omega isn't as important as other systems." Countered Captain Vaninic "I can name dozens without thinking that hard."

"Because we broadcast to you that this was the meeting point, they will want to strike us here and soon." stated Hackett "I have two defense platforms set up and we know the direction the assault will most likely come from…"

"If your defense platforms are anything like your other ships they can handle themselves, we need your ships to protect the billions of souls on other worlds." stated Commander Mutin as Hackett lowered his head.

"You have to understand, I don't have the ships under my command to turn the tide of this war." stated Hackett "All our simulations confirmed my beliefs on that, President Carter has already order the 7th, 18th and 25th fleets to prepare for sent into battle that is over 150 Capital ships, dreadnought size you would call them in those fleets alone along with cruisers, destroyers and everything else. They are the teeth of our navy, with the most power ships and well-trained crews. Along with that we have alert orders sent out to every other fleet we have along with our ground forces, the entire Tau'ri Military is mobilizing to help you, refugee centers are being scouted and set up for your people. Our allies are also being contact, even our rivals are being contacted in hopes to bring the force needed to end this war as fast as possible. We will be unable to bring any of those forces to bare if the Reapers take this system and the nearby super gate we are building. We have to hold the line here, sorry but to save your galaxy I must hold the line here."

"I understand." Stated Commander Mutin "I didn't realize how much force you are preparing. We look out and see all these ships, giant dreadnoughts and more power then any of our current forces and want to use it to save our people."

"So do I." admitted Hackett "I want to save everyone I can, but even with the ships I have here now if the Reapers do a full out attack with everything they have I would likely not be able to stop them. I could bleed them out badly make them pay for every inch of space they took but they could overwhelm this position with numbers. If I deploy too many ships away that becomes easier for them to do and something, they are more likely to try. In order to win this war, I need to keep those ships here to make sure they don't try. I will send what I can, mostly the Akula class stealth ships I have and the Normandy class frigates, but they will be use to extract high Value VIP, intelligence gathering and hit and run attacks. That is the best I can do, sorry."

 **Space was ripped apart as a vortex of blue energy appeared in the center of a massive ring, a large slash of energy shot forward from the event horizon before settling into a pool of blue energy.** For a moment nothing happened and then out of that pool of energy came a dark sword like shape. The massive form of the TAV Missouri, the current flagship of the Tau'ri Navy pulled away from the Super gate and scanned the area around the Super gate. The Captain on the Missouri spotted what he expected to see, two defense satellite along with a dozen other ships including two other battleships.

"Communication confirm with ORI galaxy command that we have arrive." ordered the Captain, as he wanted a moment for confirmation from his communication officer. ORI command was a tiny outpost when it came to the ever growing Tau'ri command structure. It wasn't that the job of holding the ORI super gate in the possible enemy galaxy wasn't important it was very important. It was just that they knew that this was a forward outpost. The men and women here along with the ships and equipment wasn't suppose to stop a full scale ORI attack, they where to hold the line long enough to alert the forces back home and make their escape. That of course was their official mission, unofficially this was also the HQ of major intelligence operations with multiple Akula class stealth ships operating across what remained of ORI space gathering intelligence about any threat the once mighty ORI could poses to the Milky Way Galaxy. So far the answer had been not much of a threat and shrinking by the day, the constant advance of the Tau'ri technology and growth of their fleet in combination with the long running a bitter civil war tearing the once united ORI galaxy apart meant they where not the threat they once were. Still memories of ORI ships blowing away their rivals in the Milky Way as the ORI soldiers destroyed whole armies stayed with the memories of the people of the Milky Way galaxy. Even so the mission of the Missouri wasn't to join the task force here it was to carry out a different operation.

"Helm, turn the ship around and prepare to dial out." Ordered the Captain as the massive battleship spun around in space and turned to face the ORI super gate. "Weapons arm probe, prepare forward missile batteries full nuclear spread, drone launchers and stand by to fire black hole bomb."

"Aye…Aye sir." Confirmed weapons as massive missile launchers raised up from positions within the Missouri and turned toward the still inactive Stargate. Missile tubes built into the haul of the battleship opened up as well to show more missiles ready to fire. The forward most fire port didn't have a missile instead a slightly larger vehicle sat ready to launch. Along with the missiles and probe, other tubes opened up to reveal Tau'ri drone weapons, while not as powerful as their ancient counterparts but they where still extremely powerful weapons.

"Weapons ready Captain!" reported Weapons as the Captain stood on the bridge and did a quick double check of his orders. He tapped a button on his own data pad which sent a confirmation that he was ready to launch his attack back through subspace by a series of repeater beacons back to Earth. After about 10 minutes he got a confirmation and he knew it was time.

"Dial the gate, once it is open launch probe and stand by weapons." Ordered the Captain as the ORI super gate began to dial, it took only a few moments before another vortex of energy shot out and the gate opened again.

"Tracking wormhole." reported Stargate operations, "It is heading just past the Torch galaxy but not reaching the next galaxy."

"Launch probe." Ordered the Captain as the probe was launched, once it was away the probe automatically cloaked itself before it even reached the event horizon. It passed through the horizon and entered the wormhole traveling the distance between the ORI galaxy and the Torch galaxy as the Tau'ri called it. The probe exited the other end and began to broadcast back to the Missouri. What it sent back was set on a holographic command table in which the Captain along with the senior staff of the Missouri could study what was before them.

What the probe sent back was what they had somewhat expected from intelligence reports from the Torch galaxy, their was a super gate, tiny by their standards and judging from the power readings it wasn't capable of reaching very far. The space around the super gate was full of multiple ships all matching information given by this catalyst of Reaper transports. Along with the supply ships there was a handful of Reaper Capital Ships all heading toward the wormhole as if they were expecting a threat to come out of the gate. They hadn't targeted the cloaked probe, however they also spotted was five arms coming out of the Reaper Super gate.

"Looks like it is a twin to the Citadel." stated a second officer as the powerful sensors noted that instead of skyscrapers full of people there where large bays now empty for the repair of Reaper Capital Ships.

"Alright, mark targets and prepare to fire." Ordered the Captain as the probe marked the targets for the coming attack.

"Fire." ordered the Captain as the front bow of the Missouri came alive with missile and drone fire which passed through the event horizon. The attack traveled the distance between galaxies in a few moments before appearing in the middle of the Reaper supply fleet. The missiles flew forward heading toward their targets while the drones went on auto pilot and went after their own targets. The Missiles aimed at the Capital ships hit their AA defense and began to get cut down however around half of the missiles where aimed not at the capital ships but at the more distant but lightly armed and armored supply ships. These missiles flew true blowing up the ships in naquadah enhanced nuclear fireballs. The capital ships were the sole targets of the drones as they began to tear the ships apart. These drones where on a one-way mission and would tear their targets apart before self-destructing. Not that it would matter much as the last missile from the Missouri flew through the super gate. With that done the super gate deactivated and the Missouri lost the feed. The probe was programed for this and sent it's last broadcast toward the still distant but much closer Promethea's. The last image was the Black Hole bomb going off and sucking in the Reaper Super gate and pulling in the remains of the Reaper Capital ships and nearby supply ships. The ever-growing event horizon swallowed the super gate up and the additional mass caused it to expand out word sucking in the supply ships which had only started to move away from the battle. The probe itself along with any remained of the Tau'ri weapons were also sucked into the new black hole in the void between two distant galaxies.

Onboard the Missouri they couldn't get a perfect reading on number of Reaper Ships destroyed but they were able to get an estimate.

"Sir, judging from the likely size of the black hole and the position of the Reaper fleet we estimate at least 60% of the Reaper fleet will be destroyed along with docking center and the super gate." stated combat control "With the rest being unable to Reach the Torch galaxy for some time and therefore out of the fight."

"Good, send report to Admiral Hackett and then prepare to transfer the other black hole bomb to the weapon bay of the main defense platform." Ordered the Captain "lets hope they never have to deploy it here. After that, lets head home."

"Aye…aye sir." Conformed the weapon officers as the report was generated and sent first to Earth who would forward it to Admiral Hackett through the stargate.

 **Well I hope you liked this chapter, it was basically a lot of set up for events that will happen later in the story. Now since I have gotten a few PM about what happened to the guy at my job who crashed the network so many times delaying my last chapter I will just say this. The guy in question is the owner's son-in-law and will likely be my boss in a few years once the owner retires so no he didn't get fired. He is a really good guy but doesn't know much about computer networks. Now until next time please keep reading, thanks Wilkins75.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Sorry for the long delay, family issues took up a lot of time I will not share with you with all the details, but it seams to be done so hopefully I can go back to giving you a normal update every 10 days or so. Now to the story.**

 **Chapter 13 Palaven**

Major Sheppard moved toward the war room onboard the Normandy as the stealth frigate headed toward the Turian home world of Palaven. The small frigate didn't have the giant war room of a larger ship but it had a room large enough for Garrus, Liara, Nyreen, Ashley, Miranda and himself. The Rest of the two teams would have to be filled in later.

"From reports we have gathered from the Palaven news and other broadcasts coming out of Palaven it would appear that the Reapers hit in force." stated Garrus as he debriefed the Tau'ri and his team members. The intelligence sources where actually Tau'ri in nature but having grown up on Palaven, Garrus knew the area and culture. This allowed him to go through the data much faster than a human could because he knew it better. "They hit in force and the home defense fleet was split and two, they have been reinforced with other fleets, but the Reapers have done major damage to our world and casualties are already in the millions."

"I can see it." stated Nyreen as the hologram in front of them showed the massive fires burning across her home world tapping holographic display which zoomed in to show the remains of a city, falling sky scrapers littered the ground along with mountains of rubble, the sky was full of smoke and the fires burned out of control. A still imagine of a Reaper capital ship loomed over the remains of the city like death itself. "Looks like Cipritine, that is our capital city is totally gone."

"Yes and we don't know who the Primarck his but we only have to reach a base and we should be able to find out who in the Hierarchy is Primarck." stated Garrus as he looked toward the Tau'ri.

"What happens if everyone in the line of succession is gone?" inquired Sheppard "In ours we have a Vice President followed by the head of the Tau'ri House of Representatives, then down the line of Cabinet Ministers and so on. In a situation as bad as this what if all of those in line for Primark are already dead?"

"The Hierarchy is the Turian form of government, everyone is placed within one of 27 different rank, the Primarck is the highest rank and if he or she should fall the next one will take up the role of Primarck." Explained Liara to the Tau'ri in the room.

"I see so everyone is in line to become Primark?" inquired Miranda as Liara nodded her head in conformation.

"Yes, every Turian on Palaven and off Palaven are part of the Hierarchy to some level or another." Confirmed Liara as she looked toward Garrus "As a council Spectre Garrus is technically on the list to become Primarck but it so far down that it is basically impossible that he would be named."

"I would be even lower and there are billions of others below me." added Nyreen "Only a few handful actually expect to become Primark at some point but everyone at a high enough level should be ready to assume the role."

"Alright, how do we go about finding the Primark?" inquired Sheppard

"I would recommend we go to Menae." stated Garrus as the hologram changed to show the larger of the two moons around Palaven. "The Hierarchy will make a stand there, if we lose that moon we loss the planet and Menae has been in military control since we first landed on it. To take it the Reapers will have to take every firebase and strong hole, that will cost them and take a lot of time."

"Alright." Said Sheppard as he looked at the barren moon, it seemed similar to Earth's moon or a lot of moons he had seen across the galaxies. "I am concern about the amount of time we would have on this moon, we don't have an unlimited supply of air in our suits only about 24 hours or so."

"Will not be an issue, massive mass effect generators built all over the moon with multiple backups have made the moon habitable despite it not looking that way." stated Garrus "You will be able to breath fine and will not even need suits."

"You will need armor and a lot of weapons, I expect a lot of fighting down on that moon." stated Nyreen

"Agreed, we are loading up with full combat not just recon." stated Sheppard as the Citadel members looked at him in slight confusion. "We have a heavier weapon package for our armor, drains power because of the weight limiting the time we have in the field before needing a recharge, but the firepower may be extremely useful here."

"If we are in and out, it shouldn't be much of a concern." stated Ashley "Still the Normandy should stay close to beam us out if needed."

"Agreed." Confirmed Sheppard as he looked at his watch. "We will hit Palaven in 4 hours, everyone will be ready for combat 90 minutes before that."

"What of the C-sec officers and Council Spectres in the cargo hold?" inquired Miranda "We have 18 people down stairs, we unloaded the wounded when we loaded up on nuclear warheads from the fleet but we still have 18 people down stairs."

"I have talked with them, most of them are Turians and want to fight for their home world and the Spectres well they are looking forward to a fight." answered Garrus

"Given the reports we have been getting they will need everything they can on Palaven." Stated Miranda

"Sadly you are not wrong, if you could blow up a few Reapers with your beaming technology it will be most helpful." added Nyreen with a voice which wasn't friendly in any way.

"Our orders are to pick up the Primark and get him or her out of the system and to somewhere safe." stated Sheppard in a firm voice however he was grinning at his guests. "While we are carrying out that mission, I don't see why we can't blow some Reapers to Kingdom come."

"So we move in, beam down near a base on this moon and then make contact with your high command." inquired Ashley

"What is left of it, looks like Palaven is getting hit hard but we will find whoever is Primark and get him or her to this meeting with your President." Stated Garrus

"Alright, Garrus would you and your team members walk us through some of your weapon systems so that we can get a better understanding on what we are dealing with." asked Sheppard

"No Problem." Said Garrus

"Will you be returning the favor?" inquired Nyreen in a stern tone of voice, it was clear she didn't trust the Tau'ri in any real way.

"I will of course if you want but you will not be able to use any of our weapons." stated Sheppard as he pulled his side arm checked to make sure the safety was on and tossed it toward Nyreen. "The safety is on the side, give it a try."

Nyreen gave the humans a confused look before flicking the switch and aimed the pistol at a wall.

"Shouldn't we be at a range or somewhere else not a meeting room?" inquired Liara but then she noticed that none of the Tau'ri seamed worried at all. Before she could raise the issue beyond that Nyreen pulled the trigger and the gun made a clink sound, but nothing was fired. Nyreen looked at the gun and pulled on the slide as a bullet, came out. She chambered another round, but nothing happened.

"It has a DNA lock on it, unless you are an authorized user on that firearm will not fire." stated Sheppard "It only gets harder for larger weapons, most of the military one's demand that the person be wearing Tau'ri battle armor to function."

"Preventing enemy from using your weapons against you, smart but what if the power armor fails you will that mean your rifles will not work?" inquired Nyreen "Because that could kill you on the battlefield."

"There is a way to reset the weapons allowing them to fire without power armor but you have to do it after every magazine, so empty a 60 round magazine of rifle ammo and you have to reset it." Explained Sheppard, it was somewhat of a lie. There was a way to reset the rifle to make it act just like a normal rifle but that was somewhat of an open secret among the Tau'ri and they were not allowed to share it.

"Still we will take it." stated Garrus

 **Back onboard the Prometheus Admiral Hackett was looking at a battle map of the galaxy, the Citadel races had left to take a short break from their discussion.** The three Citadel members had been through a tough battle and all the stress of getting their ships here, so they needed their rest. Hackett hadn't gone through the battle, so he was rested enough and keep pushing forward on his own. As he studied the battle map, he wasn't liking what he was seeing. A lot of planets in one sector of the galaxy was either deep within the red which meant large Reaper force or shaded orange which meant that the Reapers had arrived at the location but not in much force yet. Still the bulk of the galaxy was in the blue, which meant no Reaper forces have been reported.

"God, I wish we had our radar network here, tracking the Reapers would be so much easier." said Hackett to himself and his staff.

"So do I sir." added the intelligence officer, it wasn't well known in fact only the highest members of the Tau'ri government knew that the system of communication stations they had put up across the Milky Way and Pegasus galaxy to allow everyone to communicate with each other had a secondary mission. It also tracked every ship in hyperspace and even large ships over planets in near real time. This allowed the Tau'ri military planners and intelligence officers to track the movement of every possible enemy ship in the galaxy down to the size of a Tel'tak scout ship. "We are gathering every intelligence we get but everything isn't as reliable as we would like. For example, we have reports that say Reaper forces reach a planet only to have the number of ships in the report range from 1 or 2 to over 50. The high ones are always from Civilian sources."

"Civilians normally report what they think they see and what they think they see in very often wrong." Stated Hackett, both him and the other knew that during the night jump into Tauon by the airborne that the Colonial civilians had flooded their version of 911 with calls often doubling or tripling the size of any Tau'ri paratrooper they saw. "Still it seems like the bulk of the Reaper forces are still in this one area of space."

"Agreed, and while there are some major forces at the capital worlds of Palaven and Thessia to a lesser level the Reapers seam to clearing out space as well as what remains of the Citadel. The bulk of their forces are still clearing out this area of space." Stated the Intelligence officer "Baratian space, I believe it is officially."

"Show me a projection of the likely spread of the Reaper forces over the next 5 days." ordered Hackett as the holographic display showed a flood of red spreading out over the galaxy. It wasn't a solid red that kept advancing but it was close. It showed that the Reapers would focus on clearing out Baratian space before sending ships to the other races space and begin the process of taking them over. "Seven days."

"The same, we predict the rate of advance will only increase as the Citadel races are worn down and the Reapers build up their ground forces with those Dragon teeth things." Stated Intelligence.

"Once the Citadel arms arrive, I want any captured Dragon teeth brought here to be studied." ordered Hackett

"They have a few, and the remains of some of the turned Citadel races as well." stated Intelligence "Looks like its shots the body of its victim with nanobots which ride on the adrenaline system to every point within the body. The Victim starts turning almost as once, we have some Doctors looking into maybe finding a way to stop the process maybe reverse it but it isn't likely."

"Alright, once the Citadel arrives, we will begin the evacuation of the civilian population to our galaxy do we know where we are sending them?" inquired Hackett

"Valhalla, lots of military bases left over from the Colonial War that aren't being used at the moment." Stated another officer "We can draw on food supply from the 12 colonies of Kobol to help supply the food for the refugees. Other worlds are being looked at as well for longer term housing and possible resettlement but right now Vahalla is our best bet."

"We will need more then what they can give, we are talking millions of people from the Citadel alone and once word gets out we can expect refugee ships to come at a fast rate." Stated Hackett "We will need a holding area for them so that we can check them to make sure it isn't the Reaper."

"Already being done, sir." Stated an officer as the door behind them opened up as the Citadel races entered the room, they had gone to check on the status of their ships a lot of whom where now being worked on inside the large cargo hold of the Prometheus.

"Commanders, Captain was everything to your liking." Inquired Admiral Hackett

"Yes, thank you Admiral for all your help." stated Commander Mutis head of the Citadel Defense fleet and commander of the Destiny Accession.

"It is no problem." stated Hackett before turning toward the Turrian. "I do apologize for the lack of food for your people, Commander Vaninac, that is an issue we hope to solve soon."

"What do you mean?" inquired the Turrian

"Well once we move your refugees we will need to feed them, so I have ordered one of our cargo ships with an escort of 2 warships to head to a nearby Turrian colony world to pick up samples of your food so that we can clone the animals for meat and other samples of food items." explained Hackett as Commander Vaninac eyes narrowed a bit.

"We didn't detect any of your ships heading out the relay?" inquired Commander Vaninac

"I know you are tired Commander Vaninac but the Tau'ri do not need a relay to travel." Explained Captain Ulian "They have freedom of movement and are not bound to the relay network like we are."

"Freedom of movement." said Hackett as he pulled up the map of the galaxy again and highlighted the relay network which crossed the galaxy. "My God, why didn't I think of that before."

"What?" inquired Commander Mutis

"Railroads." stated Hackett as his eyes darted around the map taking it all in, like a blind man seeing for the first time.

"Sir?" inquired the Intelligence Officer

"We have been think of this all wrong." stated Hackett as everyone looked at in confusion. "We have been thinking of this as if the Relay network is like our Stargate, one can send themselves straight to another relay but it isn't. You are sent to another relay which sends you down the line to the next relay and so on."

"Like a railroad." stated the Intelligence officer as he finally understood it. "So we need to treat the relays like a railroad."

"Yes." Stated Hackett as the Citadel members looked at him in confusion not understanding what a railroad was. It wasn't that they didn't have what the Tau'ri would call railroads they all did, in fact the Turian home world of Palaven had a large network of railroads crisscrossing the planet it was just they called it something different. "We need to think of each of the relay as railroad hubs and better yet since the Reapers none relay FTL range is limited we can pin the Reapers back and prevent them from spreading."

"What?" inquired Commander Mutis "You can stop the spread of the Reapers?"

"I believe so." Confirmed Hackett as he made an arch around the section of the galaxy in which the bulk of the Reapers where operating. Along that arch all the relay paths where highlighted. "If we destroy these links we can then prevent all Relay travel between those points, throw in some of our sensor satellites and we will detect any Reaper force traveling the distance between those points in an attempt to reach another relay and fall upon them."

Hackett expected to see smiles across the Citadel members faces however a look of horror was what he saw.

"You want to cut off almost a 3rd of the galaxy and the only way to do that is by destroying the relays which cause supernova level explosions." Stated Commander Mutis as she looked at some of the worlds in the systems which was now highlighted. "Some of those systems contain billions of souls, we will not be able to get them all out before the Reapers arrive. The council will never approve the destruction whole systems and the killing of trillions of souls. I will not stand by either if you attempt that you will find yourself fighting us as well as the Reapers."

"Agreed." stated Commander Vananic "And this plan doesn't even address the forces around Palaven and Thesisa or even that you would abound trillions of people behind the Reapers lines to certain death."

"I also agree however I must admit I understand the thinking of cutting the Reapers off and if the systems where unpopulated or even lightly populated I would agree the sacrifice would be worth it." Stated the Salarian Captain.

"I understand." stated Hackett as he raised his hands in self defense "Remember we are not from this galaxy, we don't know off the bat which systems are populated and which aren't. I wouldn't expect you to know which planets in our galaxy is important either."

"We understand Admiral." Confirmed Commander Mutis "Your plan would have done a lot of good and saved a lot of lives but the cost is too great."

"Maybe we can still use it is there a way to shut down a relay or disable it without causing an explosion?" inquired Hackett

"No known way." Answered Captain Unian "But there seems to be a lot we don't know about the Relays."

"Well maybe we should fix that." Stated Hackett as he reached for his data pad, he tapped a few buttons before the face of a young officer appeared. "Major, bring Doctor Rush to the conference room."

"Sir?" inquired the Major

"You heard me Major." Reassured Hackett, it was an open secret that Hackett and Rush didn't get along, the better question was who did Rush get along with. With that done Hackett looked back up at his guests. "Doctor Rush is one of the most brilliant scientists we have, maybe among the smartest people in the known universe however he is a pain to work with. I apologized before hand for anything he says."

They didn't have to wait long before the door leading into the conference room opened up and a man, wearing a long sleeve shirt with a brown vest over it walked into the room. His hair was somewhat unkept and there was stubbles around his chin.

"You wanted to see me Admiral?" inquired Rush he scanned the aliens once with a semi disinterested eyes before turning back toward Hackett. "I am busy double checking the calculations for our dial to the Destiny Gate."

"I am sorry for that Doctor Rush." apologized Hackett "However I have a mission for you."

"I am a scientist not one of your soldiers, sailors or airmen Admiral." stated Rush "I have work to do to finish the mission we are here to do, I don't want anything to do with this pointless war."

"We are fighting to save our societies trillions of souls are on the line and ancient civilizations are in risk of ending and you call that pointless." growled Commander Vaninic with anger in his voice, as every Citadel member glared at him. Even the Tau'ri glared at him, only Hackett wasn't glaring at him, however everyone noted that Hackett's fist was turning white as he held them so tight.

"Sorry, but I am sure something similar is happening somewhere else in another galaxy and if we hadn't arrived to carry out our mission this would be just a normal Tuesday." countered Rush "Our mission is to discover the very secret of how the universe was created and is beyond anything else in importance."

"Doctor Rush, I am sure you want to get your mission underway however we can't do that until we handle the Reaper threat and you can help that happen sooner." Explained Hackett, there was a edge in his voice as if he holding back a need to hurt the man before him.

"How so?" inquired Rush

"We need you to study the Mass Effect Relays and find a way to shut them down or disable them in some way without causing them to explode in a supernova sized blast." Stated Hackett

"I could introduce a virus to it with ease more than likely, like what happened to the Stargate network to make it dial the wrong address." Offered Rush "Should be easy to do, send any ships rocketing out into deep space or the like."

"We will consider that, but we need you to look the Relays." said Hackett

"Alright, I get probe to go check out the Relay in this system." stated Rush

"No, we can't have this relay go down." Explained Hackett "I'll assigned one of our science vessels and an escort to take you to a nearby system to study the relay there."

"Alright." confirmed Rush "Waist of time the whole thing if you ask me."

"Admiral Hackett, we have some sciences and researchers within our fleet we can help Doctor Rush with uncovering the mysteries of the Relays." Offered Commander Ulian

"Thank you, we will take all the help we can get." said Hackett

"Sure, they can make explaining the basics easier." stated Rush as he headed out the door, once out of the room.

"God, that man is a jerk." added Admiral Hackett "I apologize for him."

"If he can help save our worlds, we can deal with him being a jerk as you call it" added Commander Mutis.

 **The crew of the Normandy was at battle stations as the ship headed toward Palaven, in the cockpit everyone was a little tense as the ship clocked itself a few seconds before it exited hyperspace.** There was no way to clock the vortex of energy created when the ship exited hyperspace however being cloaked prevented any nearby ship from getting a weapon or visual lock on it. In this case, the Normandy came out of hyperspace on the outer edge of the system and far away from the Relay. This part of the system was dead with no traffic at all and no alert systems of note because every sensor was pointed toward the relay which was where all the traffic coming and going would be. There was no cargo ships or civilian ships near the relay now, instead a massive battle between the Palaven defense fleet and a large number of Reapers was taking place near the Turrian home world.

"Palaven." Said Garrus as he looked at him home world, the Normandy was swing around the dark side of the planet which was now aglow not with the bright light of electrical power but instead a wash in fires large enough to be visible from space.

"Are we getting all this?" inquired Sheppard

"Yes, Sir." confirmed Joker

"I have large scales battles taking place all over the planet and two constant message being broadcasted openly on all channels." reported EDI

"Play them." ordered Sheppard

"Attention Turian of Palaven we are the Reapers, we have swept away your defenses and crushed all who stand against us. Lay down your arms, bring forth your leaders to negotiate and you shall be spared, any city which resist will be destroy." Stated a robotic voice.

"Looks like the Reapers are trying to make their conquest easy for them." stated Sheppard "Play the second message."

The second broadcast wasn't as clear as the first but had a lot more passion and force behind it then the cold mechanical voice of the Reapers.

"To the People of Palaven, we Turian have never backed down from a fight we will not now." Said a Turrian voice "We will never surrender, we will never bow down and surrender to the Reapers for it will mean death. So fight, fight on for Palaven, for your families and for the Turrian race fight on and never surrender."

"Judging from the amounts of fires on the planet looks like the entire planet is fighting back." Said Garrus with pride in his voice as they came around the planet and spotted their target. The moon was about the size of Earth's moon but unlike Earth's moon it had a smaller twin in the sky, the twin didn't seam to have nearly as much activity on it but fires where clearly visible on the surface.

"EDI find a base which is still in Turrian hands." ordered Sheppard, EDI paused for a moment before turning back to Sheppard.

"Found one, it isn't the main base but that is taking heavy fire and I estimate it will fall within the hour." Reported EDI

"Alright, take us in." ordered Sheppard before he turned and looked toward Garrus and everyone else gathered with him at the moment near the bridge. "Let's join the others in the cargo hold."

Garrus nodded his head as they headed down to the cargo hold where a large group of Tau'ri marines along with the remains of C-sec officers and Council Spectres had gathered. The two groups where eyeing each other ensure of each other, almost at once Garrus spotted that some of the Tau'ri armor was different. Strapped to their backs where what looked to be backpacks of some kind, but the packs looked totally sealed with no clear opening. He was about to ask what was going on when EDI's voice came over the speakers.

"Found a beam down spot, right outside a base. Don't want to drop you into a base and scare the defenders to death." explained EDI "45 seconds to beam down."

"Understood." Said Sheppard as he put on his helmet and picked up his rifle, for his part Garrus made sure his weapon was ready. Then in a flash the cargo hold disappeared and everything around him was replaced with a dusty wind sweep hillside. He took a deep breath and settled himself for a moment, the sudden change was off putting to him and his entire team but the Tau'ri took it in stride. They had all dropped down to one knee and raised their rifles or other weapons scanning the area for threats.

He did the same and spotted a Reaper walking along the surface maybe a dozen miles away but heading away to their current location. Currently they sat in a small valley between two small hills, the sound of gunfire then filled the air not far from them.

"The Turrian base in on the other side of this rise." Explained Sheppard as he pointed toward the hill side of his right. "There is about 300 yards of flat ground before the outer most trench of the defense line. Why don't you go say allow and make sure they don't shoot our heads off while we are coming in."

"Will do." Said Garrus as he climbed to the near the top of the hill, when he poked his head up he did indeed saw that it wasn't a hill but a large plateau and there he could see more small rises about 300 years away only these where machine gun posts. He tapped his omni-tool and did a tight communication banner.

"Turrian outpost, this is Spectre Garrus Vakarian do you read me?" inquired Garrus, as he waited a few moments.

"This is Outpost number 5712, Spectre Vakarian you are supposed to be at the Citadel." Said a clearly miss trust in her voice.

"I was but myself, a handful of C-sec officers, Council Spetres and a Tau'ri strike team are currently sitting outside your lines." Explained Garrus as he updated his Omni-tool to get downloads from the orbiting navigational satellites, it took a moment but he soon found himself on the map grid. "In grid 273 by 123, and we would rather not be shot up while we come in."

"Understood, ordering positions there to stand down and let you in." said the voice as Garrus waited a few seconds before raising his rifle above the edge of the trench along with part of his arm. When it wasn't shot off he crouched over the top only to spot a few Turians in the opposite trench waving him to come forward.

"Move." Ordered Garrus as his team, the C-sec officers, the Spectres moved forward across the field. The Tau'ri marines moved last and then only half their numbers and to the amazement of the Citadel members the 1st half stopped in the middle of the clearing and took a knee or lied down aiming their weapons away from the Turians.

"Team 2 move." ordered Sheppard as he sat on one knee in the clearing. Only when he gave the order did the second half of the Tau'ri moved. They ran back past their teammates who were covering them, each of them slapping the one of their numbers on the shoulder as they ran past. The Tau'ri reached the Turrian lines before turning around to cover the team that had stopped to cover them as they ran the rest of the distance back.

"Spectre Vakarian." Said a young officer as he looked at the mix of people before him, he was somewhat surprised by the C-sec officers and having Council Spectres was nothing but helpful. What caused him a lot of worried looks was the strange Tau'ri in their power armor. What didn't help was he had likely never seen the Tau'ri before and there was no sign of a ship that would have explained where they had come from.

"I am Major Sheppard Tau'ri Marine Force, we come on an important mission. We need to make contact with the Primark and evacuate him to chair an emergency meeting of the Races." Explained Sheppard

"It is highly important that we find the Primark at once." stated Garrus, it was his voice that carried more weight with the Turrian soldiers then anything Sheppard had said.

"Follow me." said young officer as they headed back through the trench lines. For Sheppard it was kind of like going back into the past, the trench system seamed set up similar to the Colonial trenches which he had trained to storm when he first joined the core. He passed by three lines of trenches which where zig zagged across the landscape. Finally they approached a raised wall which was lined with fire ports and two heavy machine guns on either side of the door. It opened, and they entered the firebase to the confused looks of the Turrian defenders.

"Captain!" yelled the young officer as they neared an open front building with two Turians standing out front by a holographic table. At the sound of his rank one of them looked up and blinked a few times as he saw the strange mix of races he knew and about 20 some strange aliens in armor he had never seen before.

"Captain, Spectre Vikarian, this is Major Sheppard Tau'ri Marine Core we need to get the Primark out of the system." explained Garrus as Sheppard hit the side of his helmet to show his face.

"I saw the broadcast out of the Citadel before we lost all contact what happened at the Citadel? Where is the Citadel Fleet?" inquired the Captain

"Captain, the Citadel fleet has evacuated after taking heavy loses to the Reapers while Tau'ri warships covered their retreat, the Citadel was destroyed as they pulled out." Explained Garrus "However around millions of people where saved as the Tau'ri pulled two arms of the Citadel away from the confect and to a safe zone."

"Where is safe now?" inquired the Captain

"We are working on that." Added Nryreen "But we need the Primark to organize the galaxy to fight threat."

"Well the situation is very confused, we have had a dozen or so Primarks in the past few hours all of whom have been killed in action." Stated the Captain "The last one was confirmed killed half an hour ago, no idea who is the Primark now."

"We need the Primark, is there a way you can find out who is it?" inquired Sheppard as the Turrian Captain looked at him and looked up toward where a Reaper could be seen walking in the distance.

"The moment we attempt to make contact with high command that thing will turn toward us." Stated the Captian, before letting out a sigh. "Alright, but it will take some time and that thing will be on us within minutes."

"We will take care of that thing." Stated Sheppard as he turned his rifle toward the distance, an invisible beam of light went out and painted the distant Reaper. "Normandy do you pick up the target?"

"Major, we have the target." Answered EDI, in true because of the distance Sheppard's targeting laser was only somewhat hitting the Reaper. Even so EDI was able to determine the target and the cloaked Normandy locked on the Reaper.

"Nuke it." Ordered Sheppard, 15 seconds later a blinding flash of light filled the sky as a nuclear explosion took place inside the Reaper causing it to vaporize. The source of the explosion was near the top of the Reaper to help protect anyone nearby but with the force of the blast they had for sure kill some friendlies. That price was low compared to what had it would have cost to bring down the Reaper. The bulk of the Reaper was gone however a few of its legs still stood for a while smoking, a sign that the Reaper had died in that spot.

"That should buy us the time we need." Said Garrus not adding that the nuclear blast which had done so much damage to the Reapers at the battle of the Citadel would draw the attention of the Reapers in the system. Their hope was that the fall of one Reaper wouldn't be noticed with the massive battle raging around Palaven.

"Alright, I'll get on it." Said the Captain as suddenly his Omni-tool illumined, he lifted his arm up as a glowing device. Almost instantly a panicked voice filled the air.

"Sir, we are under heavy enemy attack, we need support on the Northern barrier." stated a voice before it cut out.

"Captain do you require some help?" inquired Sheppard

"I'll take whatever help you can give me." stated the Captain as he turned toward the young officer. "Take them toward the Northern barrier."

"Yes, sir." confirmed the young officer as he turned and headed toward the opposite direction which they had come. The strange group headed toward the sound of battle as they entered back into the trenches, almost at once there was lines of wounded heading away from the battle. As they got even closer they began to see stray rounds pass over their heads as they headed toward the end of the trench line.

"Spread out." ordered Sheppard as they reached the end of the trench line and slammed himself against the barrier. Once in place he raised his gun over the rim of the trench and instantly the battlefield before him became visible as the camera in his rifle showed him the piece of ground before him.

Marauders, the turned Turian where pushing forward taking cover in shell holes while behind them came one of those turned Asari Banishes. All that jumped to his attention at first but the sounds of screams to his right caused him to aim his gun and his camera toward it to see a monster of an enemy. It looked like cross between a Turrian and a Krogran, it was attacking a Turrian who had been taking cover in a forward fox hole. It ripped the gun right out of the Turians hands along with ripping the turians arms off his body.

Without thinking more then a moment, he selected his heavy weapon and picked it as his target. From his right side a tube about the length of his back. The tube which was attached to his backpack by a moveable arm lifted up over the rim before opening up to revel multiple smaller tubes. Out of those tubes came multiple small blue glowing drones, the ancient style drones shot out of the tubes and began to swarm the Brute. The drones burned into the brute as it swung in an attempt to hit the small drones but it failed and like a swarm of bees it brought the Brute down. Four mini guns focused their fire one the Banshee cutting it in two in a few moments.

Elsewhere the other Tau'ri where firing their own weapons, each one of them had been loaded with the heavy weapon set up which added a heavy weapon to a backpack mounted free swinging arm. The power armor intelligence, not a true AI but capable of prioritizing targets where in command of those weapons leaving the actional solider capable of fighting with their primary weapons. The arm was capable of holding multiple different weapons package depending on mission needs and personal taste. Sheppard had loaded the ancient drone, but others had regular old missiles, others had mini guns, mortars and one of them was carry a heavy sensor systems which gave them a better view of the battle. The sudden increase in fire from all the reinforcements caused multiple of the Marauders to fall back. Those who took cover in the shell holes found mortars falling down into those holes and destroying them.

"Hold fire!" yelled Sheppard as the Tau'ri stopped firing, the drone returned to their holders to recharge, the recharge took a lot of power from his suit. He had one more use, maybe two left to him.

"Well that we easier then I thought." said Jack as she pointed her rifle down range toward her enemy.

"Sheppard." Said EDI's voice over the radio "We have detected 10 Reapers heading straight toward your position ETA to the first one 10 minutes."

"Well they know we are here." stated Sheppard as he turned toward Garrus "The Normandy spotted 10 Reapers heading toward this location. We have 10 minutes until they arrive."

"We can't stand up against 10 reapers." Said a nearby solider "One of those things plowed through my base, I barely made it here."

"Captain." Said Garrus into his Omni-tool as the image of the base commander appeared.

"Spetre Vakarian, I was about to contact you the situation is confused but I may have found the Primark for you." Answered the Captain "General Adrien Victus, last known location was an isolated firebase about a kilometer and a half to the North East of your position."

"Alright, we will go after him but Captain you need to pull back." stated Garrus "10 Reapers are descending down on this position."

"We have to hold this position or else we could loss over a hundred kilometers of the surface, can you blow them up like you did the others?" inquired the Captain.

"I may be able to do you one better." Stated Sheppard as he moved before the screen. "They are coming here because the Normandy destroyed a nearby Reaper, maybe the Normandy can lead them away."

It took only a minute to explain his plan to EDI, Joker and the Captain of the base.

"Alright, Tali, Liara you're with me we are going to get the Primark." ordered Garrus "Sheppard you want to come."

"I was going to invite myself if you didn't." stated Sheppard as in the distance a blinding flash filled the sky, a nuclear bomb destroying a distant Reaper. "Ashely you're with us as well, everyone else stay behind to help hold the position."

"Yes, Sir." said Zaeed as the five figures headed over the top and started to head toward the last known position of the Primark.

 **At that moment, the Normandy was traveling as fast as it could while cloaked but it was heading away from the battlefield where the Tau'ri had landed.** There where however a lot of battlefields to choose from and a lot of targets for the Normandy to choose from. As they got into range it was simple to beam a nuke to within the heart of the Reaper.

"Five away." Stated the weapon's officer as the fifth nuke went away and another Reaper exploded in a nuclear fireball. The Normandy banked to the right as it headed toward a gathering of four Reapers, the Reapers where under heavy fire from what seamed to be a distant large caliber rail gun, a mass accelerated weapon the Citadel races would call it. It was having no real effect as the Reapers injured it and kept up their attack on the base that the rail gun was trying to support.

"Have they changed course yet?" inquired Joker

"One moment." Said EDI as the Normandy's sensors locked onto the 10 Reapers who where heading to their original point. The change was small but enough for EDI to make the call. "They have changed course, they are moving one what they believe to be an intercept course."

"Good, let's play pied piper and let them follow us while the Major carries out the mission to grab the Primark." Stated Joker as they headed toward the group of Reapers. "In range in 45 seconds."

"Locking on." said EDI as the distance closed, then something happened as EDI raised an holographic eyebrow. "Strange."

"What?" inquired Joker

"I am not getting a target lock." Answered EDI as she tried again, as she did a round from the distant Turrian railgun struck one of the Reapers and impacted deep into the hull, causing it to stumble backwards. The Normandy overflew the targets and spun around for a second past as the railgun stroke again causing it to stumble backwards but remain standing. "I am still not getting a target lock."

"How can that be?" inquired Joker as a 3rd round from the Turrian Railgun brought down the Reaper.

"Interesting, that weapon had no effect on it earlier." stated EDI

"Joker decloak the ship." ordered EDI as she brought the railguns online and charged the Asgard beam weapon.

"Alright." Said Joker as the Normandy decloaked, the moment it did all the railguns which where designed to shot down incoming fighters and missiles fired on one of the Reapers while the beam weapons hit the other two. To the amazement of Joker the railguns punched through the Reaper's barriers while the beams were as deadly as ever. As they flew away from the heavily damaged reaper and the now destroyed other three the ship recloaked. "What is going on."

"The Reapers are more intelligent then we believed, they must have found a way to shift their barriers to jam our beaming technology. The Wraith did a similar thing shortly after the Daedalus first arrived in the Pegasus galaxy." Explained EDI "However the shift must leave them open to railgun fire, hence the damage done to the Reapers by the Turians railgun and then our own. We must inform Admiral Hackett of this at once and Major Sheppard."

"Do it." ordered Joker, this was both good news and bad news. It meant that they couldn't beam nuclear weapons into the heart of the Reapers but it was good because to defend against that it meant that the Citadel races weapons may do more damage against them.

 **Down on the surface, Sheppard, Ashely, Garrus, Tali and Liara moved across the barren landscape of the moon.** Above them they could see the burning Palaven, the outlines of fires marking the locations of cities.

"I was born there." Stated Garrus as he paused for a moment to look at his home world. "My father and my sister are somewhere down there."

"We will find them." reassured Tali as she went down to one knee beside him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"We don't have time, don't worry my father is a tough old retired C-sec officer he will know how to take care of himself." stated Garrus "The Reapers should be running from him."

"Once we get reinforcements, we will begin to roll these Reapers back." stated Sheppard as they moved across the landscape. "I wouldn't be surprised if General Sheppard has the entire 18th Fleet on standby, throwing in the 7th fleet and a few others and the Reapers will have no idea what hit them."

"General Sheppard? And Relations?" inquired Liara as Sheppard tensed up for no visible reason.

"We will worry about that later." answered Sheppard as Ashley out a sigh as they headed down a trench which had been overrun a while ago. The dead bodies of Turian where still visible, some of them still had their weapons beside them. Taking a moment Tali, Garrus and Liara loaded up on ammo taken from the fallen. With that done they pressed forward as massive fires filled the sky in the distance and the sound of the Reapers could be heard in the distance.

"Why aren't we seeing any more of those nuclear flashes?" inquired Tali as they moved in the shadow of a ridgeline. They would have moved along the ridgeline but that was asking to be spotted and fired upon.

"Turns out the Reapers found a way to jam our beaming technology." explained Sheppard "However to do so it appears they have made themselves open to your mass accelerated weapons and our railguns."

"Damn." cursed Liara as they kept moving, to each of their amazement they came across no other enemies until they where almost within visual range of the last known location of the new Primark. That is when the sound of gunfire picked up.

"Move." ordered Sheppard as they headed toward the sound of the guns. What they found was a large group of Marauders trading shots with a much smaller group of Turrian defenders inside what looked to be either some kind of AA or artillery firebase. The base was already somewhat taken but it hadn't fully fallen and better, yet Sheppard and his team was coming in from behind.

"For Palaven!" yelled Garrus as he opened up first, moments later everyone else did. The sound of the Tau'ri battle rifle firing was noticeable different then weapons used by either the Turian or the Reapers. Sheppard had to duck down as a round massed within inches of his head, without shields he lacked the protection of the other Citadel races armor but his armor on a whole was physical stronger. His rounds packed a larger punch and the armor piecing high explosive rounds, a technology taken in part from the Colonials to deal with Cylons. That technology was now being used to drop the Reapers. The Reaper's ground weapons like their Citadel counterparts put out a lot of fire but their rounds packed less punch then his own.

"Right." Said Ashley as she fired a three-round burst at a Marauder who had come out one of the small buildings to their right. Sheppard didn't turn toward the enemy Ash bring down instead he kept his weapon pointed the other way, so that if another enemy would appear wouldn't shot Ash in the back. They moved forward pushing the Marauders back, the only issue that happened was Liara used her biotic energy too close to Ashley which triggered Ash's anti-prior device in her armor which disabled Liara's biotic power. That was a simple reset but it did slow them down for a moment, seeing reinforcements arriving the defending Turian took heart and began to counter attack pushing the Marauders back toward Sheppard's and Garrus's team. It didn't take long before the last one fell and a quiet fell over the battlefield.

"General Victus!" Yelled out Garrus

"I am General Victus, who are you?" inquired a Turrian dressed in dark metal gray armor broadline black with red highlights.

"Spectre Garrus Vakarian and this is Major Torren Sheppard Tau'ri Marine force." introduced Garrus as Victus turned his gaze toward the two Tau'ri.

"I saw the broadcast out of the Citadel before this whole mess started." stated General Victus as he looked at the humans closely. "That doesn't explain why you all are here?"

"General, our President Carter is hosting a meeting between your galaxies leaders and ours." Explained Sheppard

"Your galaxy?" inquired Victus

"Damn, I forgot they cut the transmission before we covered that part didn't they?" inquired Sheppard as he looked at Liara and Tali who nodded their heads.

"We did." Confirmed Liara before turning toward General Victus "General, the Tau'ri come from another galaxy and they are in the process of calling enough forces to hopefully turn the tide and save or civilizations but we need the Primark."

"Well last I heard the Primark is on Palaven." answered Victus

"No sir." Answered Garrus "The Primark is dead, you're the new Primark."

That seamed to take him aback as he walked away and turned toward Palaven, his home and the home world of the Turrian Race.

"I'm Primark of Palaven, speaking for the Turion Hierarchy?" inquired General Victus

"Yes, sir which is why we need you." Explained Sheppard "Your needed to help organize and plan the counter attack to the Reaper invasion. Our intelligence reports believe this is only the tip of the Reaper's forces there are still hundreds if not thousands of ships spread out over this galaxy. We need you to help make sure your people survive."

"All alright." Confirmed Victus "I hate leaving my men, but I can do better for them with you behind the lines then I can do fighting here with them. However a the Citadel races and the Tau'ri isn't enough, we will need the Krogans for sure and anyone else who we can get."

"I have already contact Wrex he is going to meet us at Omega where the Tau'ri have set up a forward operating base and supply center." stated Garrus "After we drop you off we are going to head to the Quarrian Migrant fleet and even contact the Geth. They are on the line as well."

"Good." Said Victus

"Alright, Normandy come around and take us back onboard and prepare to head out." ordered Sheppard as the sound of battle keep going in the distance and they could see the fires glowing on the surface of the planet below.

 **Well I hope you liked this story and the progress the story is taking. Now until next time, please keep reading. Thanks Wilkins75.**


	14. Chapter 14

**I am tired of saying this but I am sorry for the long delay, my life has been nothing but crazy just when I thought it was settling back down to normal. I will not make any more promises because whenever I seam to do that is when the sky falls down on when I will update next but I will do my best to get back to a normal schedule. Let's just hope life and a case of writers block stops getting in the way. Thanks Wilkins75**

 **Chapter 14 Clash of Cultures Part 1**

For the nearly 10 million Citadel civilians on the two remaining arms of the once mighty space station a sense of overwhelming fear filled the tense air. Above them in the sky where the strange dark ships which had suddenly appeared out of no were moments after their two arms where disengaged from the center ring. Then there was the fact that beyond those strange Tau'ri ships where pulling the Citadel arms through a strange vortex of blue energy, something none of the people had ever seen before. If all that wasn't enough there was still the remains of the battle which had been raging across the arm. It was over now, the Keepers which had suddenly turned on them stopping and going peaceful and still once they where out of the range of the Reapers. As for the Reaper ground forces which had made it onto the arms before they where taken away by the Tau'ri they had fought on for a while longer but without orders they too began to stop attack and just stood there.

"I wonder why they just stopped attacking." said a C-sec officer as he looked toward a Marauder who just stood there like a statue. They had taken out the other Marauders and other Reapers ground soldiers however they had left this one standing. It wasn't out of the goodness of their hearts but because of the small group of Tau'ri which had come down from their ships had surrounded a few still intact samples and where busy studying it. Other then a handful of Tau'ri who had come down to get samples they had taken a backseat to the c-sec officers who maintained order on the Citadel arms.

"My bet is that those Reapers must have some kind of control over them, like a robot and without them they simply stop moving." Stated another C-sec officer as suddenly his Omni-tool began to beep with a video message. He looked at it for a moment before seeing that the other C-Sec officer also had a message, as he looked around so did everyone else. He raised his arm up and tapped the flashing dot which told him a message was waiting for him. Within seconds a holographic window appeared above his arm, inside that window appeared a Tau'ri face along with an Asari one he didn't recognize.

"I am Commander Mutis of the Destiny Accession; the Citadel fleet has joined with the Tau'ri exploratory fleet." announced Commander Mutis "We are currently in the Omega system where we are gathering to force the Reaper invasion out of our galaxy for all time. Now while the brave warriors of the Citadel are taking part of that we require your help. Everyone who wants to is encouraged to sign up to fight to save your home worlds and your races. For those who can't our plan is to evacuate you out of our galaxy to the Tau'ri galaxy. I hand it over to Doctor Rodney McKay of the Tau'ri."

"Thank you commander Mutis, I am Doctor Rodney McKay of the Tau'ri." said the Tau'ri man. "And yes, you heard Commander Mutis correctly we the Tau'ri are from another Galaxy. In our galaxy we have a device called a Stargate."

With that both images disappeared replaced by a ring with multiple strange symbols cut into it along the side. They watched as it began to spin stopping every so often at one of those symbols, when it stopped a part of the ring would glow.

"Now the stargate works by dialing an address of another stargate and opening a wormhole between the two gates." explained McKay's voice as the stargate stopped spinning and a rush of energy shot forward before settling down. "Once open all one has to do is walk through the event horizon and one is transported through the wormhole to the other stargate. Now the process is a one-way trip but one can return by simply dialing the gate on the other end and walking back through the newly opened wormhole. Our plan is to evacuate all civilians who can't fight to our galaxy to keep them out of harms way."

"Is such a thing possible?" inquired the C-sec officer to his partner

"We are on a citadel arm being towed faster then light without Mass Effect Relays after being attacked by giant Reaper ships." Stated his partner "I'll believe almost anything now."

"Now the two Citadel arms will arrive in a nearby system to the Omega system, those who wish to fight and have Military or ship born experience will be transferred to the Citadel fleet to be assigned to a position that can use their skills. Everyone else will be heading to our world of Valhalla where they will be separated again. Those who are pure refuges will be sent to refuges camps which we are setting up as we speak, anyone who wishes to fight will be sent to other camps where your military will be sending trainers to train you to fight the reapers before you return to your galaxy."

"So everyone not already trained will go to this Valhalla world where they will be settled in as refugees or trained to fight to come back." clarified Commander Mutis "However we can't have you bring moving vehicles worth of items, so I have placed limits on the numbers and size of bags everyone can bring with them through this Gate."

The list of bag numbers and size appeared, with the standard number being 3 bags (2 handheld 1 backpack) per person with Turians and Quarians allowed 4 as long as one of them contains food since the Tau'ri where still in the process of getting a reliable line of food which they could eat. There was even guidelines for pets and how they will be handled, mostly putting them in isolation until it can be determined that they are no threat to local Tau'ri plants and animals.

"Now you will be arriving in the system in 90 minutes, once there it will be about an hour until we will begin with evacuation of the population." Stated Commander Mutis "We will being with the inner most wards since they saw the heaviest fighting and the people there will not have homes to rest in while we evacuate the citadel. Now please return peacefully to your homes and begin to pack up."

 **Primark Victus sat in the meeting room of the Normandy with Major Sheppard, the Tau'ri AI EDI, Garrus and Liara.** The three Citadel races sat on one side of the table while the Tau'ri and a holographic projection of the ships AI sat on the other. The Tau'ri where providing a crash course in the Tau'ri being from another galaxy, the stargate and other information that the Primark had to know to be a better allies to the Tau'ri in the fight.

"So you are from another galaxy and this ring…" started Victus

"Stargate." Supplied EDI

"Stargate can form a wormhole across space to your galaxy?" inquired Victus

"Correct, and with enough power and a proper address one can dial outside a galactic network into another galactic stargate network." confirmed EDI "In fact we placed a stargate in on a world near Omega and drawing power from a super volcano to open the wormhole to our galaxy."

"We just have to be careful not to actually cause the super volcano to go off." Stated Sheppard "We know a nation that did that before when they were powering a shield. Luckily we were able to get their people off world just before the volcano went off."

"We have gained experience with taking power from super volcanos it is now a common source of power across Tau'ri space, Earth has 6 of them powering our cities and other worlds have them depending on need. Now the power needed to open the gate as many times as we will need in addition to the distance means it will take more power then we can safely take from the volcano. We will be monitoring the power level closely and we will be using a ZPM and six naquadah generators to help generated power." reassured EDI to the Sheppard, "It is just the amount of power needed to power the gate and the number of times we will need to open the gate. The other option would be to move the gate to the black holes and power it that way, however the issues in embarking and disembarking groups from the Stargate would be massive if we put the gate near the Black Hole."

"Alright, so how much forces will you bring in through this stargate?" inquired Victus

"Honestly I don't know, not a whole lot of forces but a lot of supplies for the forces we have here at the moment." Stated Sheppard not adding that the weapons likely coming in would be nuclear warheads, something that the Citadel races seamed touchy about but was common space borne weapons for the Tau'ri.

"It is more effective to send refugees through the gate and wait until the super gate is built to bring in the fleets." explained EDI

"Alright, so we can't expect Tau'ri navy and ground forces to be joining us on the battlefield any time soon." stated Victus as he took a deep breath "Who is all coming to this conference?"

"We have sent word to the Asari and Salarians, they will be there for sure." stated Liara

"And Wrex will be there as well, but so far he hasn't promised to join the fight." stated Garrus

"So far the Reapers haven't attacked Tuchanka." added Liara as Primark Victus let out a sigh and leaned forward onto his hands which rested on the table.

"So they have no reason to actually join us in battle and every reason to sit back and watch us die out." stated Victus "Payback for the Genophage, they are dying out might as well watch us go down before they go down themselves."

"There may be a way to get the Krograns on our side." stated Garrus as Victus turned his attention toward his fellow Turian. "Sheppard would you please explain."

"Doctor Samantha O'Neill our shipborne doctor and one of the most brilliant young doctors believes that using some of the medical technologies we have that we can cure the Genophage." Explained Sheppard as Victus's head snapped toward the Tau'ri Major.

"You believe you can cure the Genophage?" inquired Victus

"It is a theory, but it is a working theory." Confirmed Sheppard

"That should bring in the Krogans into the fight, if we provide them with a cure and an enemy for them to fight they will jump into this war with glee." Stated Garrus

"I agree." confirmed Liara "And if the Geth and Quarians join as well with the Citadel Races and the Tau'ri, we stand a fighting chance against the Reapers."

"You plan to get the Geth and Quarians to work together?" inquired Victus as he shook his head. "I wish you luck but I don't see either one working with the other, you may have to pick one or the other."

"They may not have to work together." Stated Sheppard as they all looked at him. "We have enemies on multiple fronts, why would we have to have Quarians and Geth fighting together. Send the Geth to Palaven and the Quarians to help the Asari on Thessia."

"Could work." admitted Liara "However better to send the Quarians to Palaven, we share the same type of food."

"No, it won't." countered Victus "And convincing the Salarians to work in any way with the Krograns will be next to impossible and if you offer to cure the Krograns it will only make them more likely to not join us. The Salarians will likely hide in their own space, I don't know what secrets they have but they always have tricks up their sleeves."

"So, what do you recommend?" inquired Sheppard "Would you rather have the Krogans or the Salarians?"

"Krogans." Answered Victus without missing a beat "We need the best fighters in the galaxy and the Salarians are not that. We need them, but we need the Krogans more."

"Alright, I'll inform high command." stated Sheppard.

 **Multiple Galaxies away President Carter sat behind her desk in the Presidential Mansion, from here she could control forces in 4 different galaxies and she commanded more power then any human in history.** Almost 30 percent of the Milky Way Galaxy and large selections of the Pegasus Galaxy where under her leadership, trillions of people casted votes to make her their leader to make the choices that would affect their lives. She and the other elected leaders made the laws, taxes and other choices which effect their lives directly. Even with all this power she had to play politics, she had to inform the other powers in this galaxy, the Free Jaffa nations and the multiple different Lucian Alliance factions about the soon to be influx of refugees from the Torch Galaxy. They didn't care much about the refugees they were more concern about the mobilization of the Tau'ri military and the threat that might poses to them. She left that task to the massive state department which dealt with the relationship with other powers.

"Thank you President Baltar we are grateful for the help of the 12 colonies of Kobol in providing food for the refugees from the Torch Galaxy." Said Carter into what appeared to be an old fashion cord phone, however that phone was actually linked to multiple transmitters stations spread out across Tau'ri space and which allowed her to call up people with great ease, she could have used a holographic phone but that technology was too advanced for the Colonials to be given so soon after the war. So she was using his less advance form of communication. "Goodbye."

She hung up and took a deep breath and looked at her schedule and took a moment to gather herself for her next call. For this she used the holographic phone and within moments the face of a young man wearing black with a white color appeared.

"Madam President, one moment I will get his holiness." Said the Priest who acted as aid to the Pope. Earth was a united world aside from two nations which remained independent from the Tau'ri government. Those two nations where still independent for two very different reasons, one was Vatican City remained independent because to join the Tau'ri a nation must have freedom of and from religion and when the Pope is the head of a religion and the nation is a tricky matter. It was a free nation but was Tau'ri in every major way, the only other issue on Earth was North Korea which had just refused to lie down and die even as it lost all trading patterns and all but the most basic humanitarian support. There where multiple plans to take over that failing nation but it would cost so many lives mostly the in the North Koreas who would be throwing 1970 and 1980's equipment against the modern Tau'ri equipment. Her thoughts where broken when an older man appeared and on her holographic display. She did another quick talk to the Pope and quickly got his help in raising money to help fund aid for the refugees which would soon be coming. With that done she prepared for the main meeting of her day.

"Madam President the delegation from the Nox have arrived." said her aid Walter

"Thanks Walter." answered President Carter as she stood up and headed around her desk to face the entrees to the office in order to welcome her guests. She had just finished making sure her black pantsuit was straight when the doors opened and three Nox elders walked into the room.

"Welcome, I thank you all for coming so quickly." Welcomed Carter as she shook the hands of each of the Nox. She didn't recognize them which was a disappointment however she did notice that they all had on golden armbands, a sign of them being high elders. She was dealing with the heads of the Nox civilization and that was good.

"When we receive your message about the events going on in the Torch Galaxy as you call it, we had to come." said one of the elders.

"Still thank you for coming, I am afraid I don't know your names." stated Carter, the Tau'ri intelligence agencies which formed from old enemies like the American CIA, Russian SVR, British MI6 and others had breached almost every nation to such a degree that she could look up the sexual habits of some of the Lucian Alliance nations leaders at a push of a button. None of that was true for the Nox, their nation was one of the nations which she had no real information about, so she was walking slightly blind into this meeting with her own ally.

"We don't have any." explained the female elder "Not anymore, we renounced our names once we put on this band. We no longer bond to our family name as you would call it instead, we are bond to help the Nox people as a whole."

"I understand." resounded Carter not fully understanding it but needing to put up that front. "I contact you because we have found the Furlings, the 4th race."

"I see, so the Reapers hadn't whipped them out?" inquired another one of elders as it was Carter's turn to be taken aback.

"You know about the Reapers." inquired Carter

"Yes, we have known about them since the fall of the Furlings all those ages ago." answered the other male elder as they headed toward the chairs across from Carter's desk, it took her a moment but she too headed to her seat behind her desk. "We knew about the Reapers since the Furlings called for aid, but we where unable to provide help."

"Due to the plague running through the galaxies." stated Carter "Yes, we heard of this from an AI program left by the Furlings."

"The plague wasn't the only reason why we where unable to provide any aid to the Furlings." added the female elder "We where involved in a civil war at the time, because our leaders where looking out for their families name and power first not the good of the Nox people as a whole. That is why we have no names today among the highest of the elders."

"See we where not always as peaceful as we are now, it is only after the war and our great sin that we embraced the peaceful way we follow now." stated the 1st elder

"What do you mean?" inquired Carter as the three elders looked at each other before nodding their heads.

"Madam President, we where once very young like you where when you first made contact with us all those years ago and we made a horrible mistake." Said the female elder

"What we are about to tell you can not leave this room, only the Ancients knew of our shame not even the Asgard knew it." Stated the 1st male elder as Carter waited to hear what was about to come next.

"We wouldn't inform you either if the situation with the Furlings hadn't come forward." stated the 2nd Elder

"The plague which killed whole planets and brought the great powers to their knees wasn't a natural virus it was a weapon made in our civil war which got out of control and claimed countless trillions of souls in multiple galaxies." explained the female elder as Carter's eyes widened at the news, she didn't even know that the Nox had a civil war in their history. "No one is sure which side made the virus but the effects are the great shame of the Nox and so we adopted our peaceful ways."

"And you left the Furlings to die out of shame?" inquired Carter

"We couldn't help them, we where hit with the war and then the plague we had no strength left." explained the 1st Elder "The Ancients sent what they could, but it was only enough to bring out their historical records and most advance technology, after that it was decided between the Ancients and ourselves that we would never go to the Torch galaxy. We would hide our shame."

"And now you know, we knew about the Reapers as you call them but did nothing." Inquired Carter

"We had adopted our peaceful ways and the Ancients where busy with their own affairs. They seamed willing to let the issue die, there was nothing anyone could do and the Reapers where trapped in a galaxy with no realist way to expand out." Explained the female elder Nox "We would have warned you about the Reapers and not to go to that galaxy had we known that was the destination of your research mission but that was hidden from the public."

Carter let out a sigh as she considered the matter at hand. They had kept the location of the Prometheus mission secret but to just leave a whole galaxy in the hands of genocidal robots didn't sound like anything the Ancients would have done given a chance. They had only abounded the Pegasus Galaxy once everything had failed, but they abounded the races of the Torch Galaxy for millions of years in which they could have helped. Then again the Ancients had their secrets as well and maybe they where not as good as some Tau'ri held them up to be.

"We will begin evacuating the civilians from the Citadel in a few hours all the help you can give us will be grateful." Stated Carter

"We will do everything we can to help these refugees." confirmed the 1st elder "Is there anything else you need?"

"Yes, the Furling race are still alive." stated Carter, now it was the Nox turn to be surprised, as the elders looked at each other.

"But the Reapers, they kill everything and harvest them to make their ships." stated the 1st elder

"Well they couldn't do it to the Furlings and instead they where enslaved with some sort of robotic implants to keep them in line. They have been enslaved both body and mind from birth since their civilization fell. They have been force breed and have no culture, that is what happened to your ally…our ally since we are a member of the alliance of races as well. That can't be allowed to stand." Explained Carter "We have some captured on the Citadel arms, with hope we will be able to break them of the enslavement."

"Even if you where able to do so, after such a long time of enslavement to a computer are they even capable of higher level thought?" inquired the 2nd elder

"They would have no memory of their culture which was once one of the great races in the galaxies." Stated the female elder "They would be basically animals or primitives unable to understand things as simple as fire."

"Which is why we want your help, the Furlings are still members of the Alliance of Races we need to do everything we can to help restart their culture." stated Carter "You would have the better chance of that then we would, you must have records of Furling culture, art and history."

"We do have some limited ancient records of them yes." confirmed the 1st Elder before nodding his head. "Yes we will help on this front in any way we can."

"Thank you." said Carter.

 **A massive vortex of energy opened up in the Omega system as the Tau'ri battle fleet towing two arms of the Citadel containing millions of refugees reentered normal space.** All around them other Tau'ri ships took note of the arrival of their sister ships and the remains of the Citadel fleet also took note of the arrival of such a massive force. The massive group of ships didn't break apart like they normally would off, instead they moved toward one of the planets within the system. It was just on the habitable side and not a place anyone would want to stay for long, however the air was breathable and it would serve as a waystation for refugees heading to the Milky Way galaxy. The citadel arms bounced and shook as they entered the atmosphere, the shields powered in part by the Tau'ri ships kept the people safe as they headed toward the already pre set up area. Two massive groves had been cut into the pour soil by beam weapons with about a quarter of a mile between both groves. With great care the Citadel arms where lowered into the groves on the ground. Once settled the tractor beams holding the arms deactivate aside from two ships one which hung over each arms transferring power from their own drives to the shields and atmosphere generators on the arms.

"What are we going to do here?" inquired multiple people spread out across the entire Citadel arms. The answer came when they noticed a large building was located in the middle ground between the two arms. Moments after the arms had fully settled teams began to move out coverings which extended out from the buildings. The coverings extended out until they hit the Citadel, near the center of one of the main ship docking areas, once there it attached itself to one of the larger docking arms and stopped. The SEC officers were prepared for almost anything as those coverings came every closer formed a defensive line around the point where the arm had docked.

With a hiss of air, it opened up to show a Tau'ri standing there with his head down looking at a data pad.

"Howdy folks." Said the man in a strange accent, he wore a strange large hat on his head. "I hope we didn't scare you, we are sure you don't want to go outside in this weather…makes a dust storm back in Texas."

"What?" said a Sec officer only to jump when another Tau'ri nocked the hat off the other Tau'ri head.

"Stop that Frank, you're from Maine not Texas and they have no idea how bad of a Texas accent you faked." Said the other Tau'ri

"Your no fun." Said the first Tau'ri Frank as he picked up his hat and headed back down the corridor.

"Sorry about him, I am Major Hayashi of the Tau'ri Army Core of Engineers and I am here to show you how we are going to evacuate your people out of here." Said the Tau'ri "Care to follow me, your welcome to bring your weapons in fact we want you too."

"Squad move out." Ordered the head SEC officer as they flanked the Tau'ri officer who was walking calming down the path. The SEC officers where on edge as they scanned the area with their weapons at the ready. It was a large corridor at least 20 ft wide and 20 ft high and illumined with lights along the ceiling and on the floor. Everything was made of segmented metal and gave off the impression of an air lock of some kind.

"I can understand your on edge but please don't end up shooting anyone." Advised Major Hayashi as they reached the end of the corridor and saw two machine gun posts aiming away from the corridor. Two more heavy machine guns sat on ceiling mounted arms which looked as if it could spin around to face the corridors. There was at least a dozen visible Tau'ri guards and two of their mechs standing along the back way waiting for something to happen. The SEC officers raised their weapons but the Tau'ri didn't move to raise their own weapons they stood still or eyed the SEC officers but made no move against them. "They are here to guard the gate not deal with you."

"The Gate?" inquired a guard as they noticed that at the far end of the warehouse size room was a metal ring.

"The Stargate." answered Major Hayashi as she double checked her computer pad. "If you want to wait a few moments we should have an incoming cargo shipment from the Milky way."

They didn't have to wait long as the ring began to spin before suddenly coming to a stop. When it did a flush of blue energy rushed out before settling down into a surface which resembled a pool of water. For a moment nothing happened and then large cargo like trucks came rolling out of the pool of the water. The line of trucks moved forward came to a stop for a moment before disappearing in flashes of light.

"Were did they go?" inquired another officer

"Beamed onboard one of the battleships the Prince of Wales." Stated Major Hayashi "Can't let a truck loaded with nuclear weapons just sit around can we? The next truck has ship to ship missiles and so on."

"And these came from a galaxy over?" inquired the SEC officer

"No…I don't know how many galaxies over but it is a lot more then one." Explained Major Hayashi as she looked back down at her data pad. "If everything works for you, I would like to begin the evacuation within the next 45 minutes, you police officers will of course allowed to bring your weapons we want your help to maintain order in the refugee camps we are setting up."

 **The Normandy was lagging behind the Citadel but thanks to the powerful shipboard communication Tali'Zorah nar Rayya was able to link into the galaxy wide communication network and reach the Quarin Migrant fleet.**

"Admiral Han'Gerrel vas Neema, now is not the time to reclaim our home world." stated Tali as she talked to a holographic display of one of the major admirals within the massive Migrant fleet. He was maybe the most powerful admiral if true be told after the death of her father during his experiments with Geth equipment.

"I disagree the other powers would never had let us attempt to reclaim our world but since they are busy with the Reapers, we will be able to reclaim our world." Countered Admiral Han'Gerrel "The other admirals agree with me on this, we can't stay a migrant fleet forever the strain on our people is growing too great, we must reclaim our world and we must do it now."

"Sir, while we are doing that the Reapers may win and destroy all life in the galaxy." countered Tali

"That is unlikely if your new Tau'ri allies are as strong as they report to be." stated Admiral Han'Gerrel "We will let them and the other races deal with the Reapers, while we reclaim our home world and deal with the Geth."

"But sir…."

"That is all." Stated Admiral Han'Gerrel as he cut the communication link and the hologram disappeared.

"Well that is disappointing." stated Miranda as Tali spun around to see the human female standing there watching her. "Sorry didn't mean to scare you."

"That is ok, didn't hear you coming." admitted Tali "Too focus on convince the Admiral how wrong he is."

"Would it help if he knew that the Geth will turn to aid from the Reapers to defeat any Quarin attack?" inquired Miranda as Tali's eyes widened under her purple face visor. "Legion, just finished contacting the Geth and they know you Quarins are coming and they are considering approaching the Reapers for aid."

"But that will doom them to." countered Tali

"Very likely it would, but it would doom the galaxy long before them." stated Miranda "It would give the Reapers more ships and open a huge new flank in the war."

"We have to stop the Reapers before my people launch their attach, it will take them some time to arm all the ships they will need to launch their attack. If we can defeat the Reapers before that then we may be able to stop this war as well." Stated Tali "Maybe this alliance of all the great powers can end the war fast."

"Well the Turian, Asari, Salarians and Krograns will all be there, along with the Tau'ri of course." Stated Miranda as she paused for a moment. "Wouldn't surprise me if some of the Free Jaffa or Lucian Alliance members show up as well, at least the more powerful among them but on the fighting front it will be a mostly Tau'ri show from our side of the galaxy."

"When will this begin and better yet how will you get the Krograns to help?" inquired Tali

"To answer your first question, once we arrive with the Primark, we will head through the Stargate to meet with the leaders in our galaxy. The second on is that we plan to offer the Krograns a cure for the Genophage." Answered Miranda "That got their leader Wrex to come to the meeting, he has already arrived and is awaiting our arrival."

"Good, we will have to move fast." Added Tali as she wondered what was in store for them.

At that moment a sister ship to the Normandy, The TAV Josephs Daniels powered through hyperspace deep into the Reaper Controlled Red zone. Their mission was to reach the Baratian home world of Khar'shan and find out the current situation on their home world. Since the barbarians had been the first hit by the Reapers their current state would determine the rate of spread of the Reaper forces. If the Reaper forces with Baratian space could finish off the Baratian forces it would free them to move on to other targets, if the Reaper forces where held down in Baratain space then it would buy time for the other races. That time may allow whole worlds to be spared from war depending on the how fast the Tau'ri got the super gate constructed to bring their fleets into the fight.

"Ah…so what can I expect on this Khas'shan?" inquired Colonel Drugo as he stood on the command bridge of the Josephs Daniel, beside him was his local contact the crime lord and ruler of Omega Aria T'Loak.

"Khas'shan, is a shithole of a planet and the Baratians are shithole people." Stated Aria as she looked straight forward through the cockpit window. "If you or your ship born AI have read any of the Citadel information about Khas'shan throw it out the airlock. All those official reports from the Citadel where from fools of official visitors who saw only what the government wanted them to see. They like to say that their economy is the equal of the Asari, but they aren't even up to the level of Hanar. The average Baratians live in shoddy housing, little food and their lives are cut short from one type of trouble or another. Only the really rich, powerful or those graced with a desirable skill live in any way close to confront."

"So they put up a false front and lie to outsiders." stated Drugo "Anything else of importance?"

"Slavery…" said Aria with hate in her voice. "They are the largest slavers in the galaxy and the fact that is why the normal civilians haven't risen against the ruling class. The slaves are lower than the poorest free Baratians and that means they feel better about themselves in their horrible lives. Throw in that most Baratians can't access anything but state-controlled media, travel limitations and all that other wonderful stuff that comes from corrupt dictator governments."

"Sounds like North Korea." Stated Drugo as Aria turned her gaze to him. "Don't worry about it, so your contact on Khar'shan will be able to help us?"

"If he can't then the planet is as good as gone." stated Aria "I rule Omega, he rules the underworld for over half the planet and has contacts across all of Baratian space, he will know the state of the Reapers across Baratian space. So your side will get all the intelligence they could possible want."

"Not likely, unless your contact can give us minute by minute movements of every ships within Baratian space, or better yet second by second then they top brass may be happy." state Drugo

"Well no one can give you that." stated Aria only to pause when she saw a slight grin on Drugo's face. "You aren't joking…your leaders are used to that?"

Drugo laughed softy to himself nodding his head.

"Officially I can't tell you anything but intelligence is key, if you win the intelligence battle you win the war. That is what they drilled into my head in officer's school before I joined special forces." Stated Drugo "Good intelligence is worth 10 divisions and so we focus on winning the intelligence battle which is why we are on this mission now. So we need the information that your contact has. We need to know the state of the Baratians on the Reaper front to decide where best to deploy our limited resources."

"Colonel we are going to exit hyperspace in 90 seconds." Stated a male voice as a tiny figure which was about to Aria's waste in height walked up. He gave off an unnatural glow which told Aria that she was dealing with the Holographic construct of the ships AI.

"Thanks Tyrion." Said Drugo as the AI nodded his scared head and turned around and walked away.

"Why would a hologram have a scared face and be so short?" inquired Aria

"In truth he wasn't even assigned to this ship until a few hours ago, the ship's first AI Mr. Cooley requested and got a transfer to be with the old commander to help run the evacuation of the Citadel. Tyrion came from in from Earth to replace him and he is a fan of a show called Game of Thrones and took the image of his favorite character." Explained Drugo "They can do that, change their names, gender and appearance by only filling out a few pieces of paper to make it legal."

"Strange." stated Aria as Drugo motioned her to follow him back toward the communication center and tactical map located near the elevators. They reached the large holographic display just as the Josephus Daniels exited hyperspace, thanks to being cloaked it wasn't detected but the sensors where detecting a lot of activity in the system. None of the activity was good for their side, the Reapers owned the system, the only none reaper ships in orbit where wrecks being either being torn apart for raw material by the Reapers or being flung toward the planet like mini artificial meteors. Their impacts where visible to the naked eye and with the powerful sensors on the Josephus Daniel they could watch the shook wave spread out and the dust clouds rise from each impact.

"Well I never liked that world but it looks worse than I have ever seen it." stated Aria

"Tyrion tell me are we in range for the life sign detector?" inquired Drugo

"We would have to drop within the atmosphere to start getting detailed locations but I can give you a general population count." explained Tyrion as Drugo nodded his head to give him the go ahead. "We don't have the dark side of the planet within our sensors yet, but if the population layout is similar across the entire planet the entire planet population is under 90 million."

"What was the population of the planet before the Reapers?" inquired Drugo as he looked at Aria, the normally cool and confidante face had disappeared, and a look of horror replaced it.

"15 billion." answered Aria as even Drugo's eyes widened at the numbers dead.

"The bulk of those still among the living are located in camps spread outside the remains of major cities." answered Tyrion as the image of camp appeared, it was a well ordered and clean set of buildings with figures moving around within the base. "I don't believe they are resistance groups, each one of the camps has a Reaper Capital Ship within ½ a Kilometer of the base."

"Prison camps?" inquired Drugo

"Possible but not likely, the camps are not guarded in real way." stated Tyrion "The most likely answer is the indoctrination warned by Spectra Vakarian that the Reapers are capable of."

"As much as it pains me to admit, Vakarian is normally right about stuff like that." Stated Aria "He has been a pain in my side for a while, but he did get Nyreen off my back taking her on his suicide mission which wasn't a suicide mission which was one good thing at least."

"So they are working for the Reapers?" inquired Drugo

"That is the most likely answer." stated Tyrion with that a holographic image of one of the camps zoomed out to show a massive building about 3 kilometers by 2 kilometers sat right outside the base. Beside it was another building which was only a ½ kilometer square, just by a glace Drugo could see it was much more guarded then the actual camp. "I believe they are using this population as a slave workforce to build items of importance to them. I believe this is the factory and the indoctrination people are the workforce."

"Alright, we need to learn what they are making for sure." Answered Drugo as he turned to Aria. "Can you reach out to your contact."

"One moment." Said Aria as she brought up her omni-tool and began to work the tool. Her omni-tool was linked into the Normandy's communication array through an isolated computer which in turned linked into the communication array of a wrecked Baratatian cruiser which floated dead in space, that link bounced off ten other civilian and other military ships before the single fell over the planet. There was a long pause as Aria's omni-tool tried to make contact. "Come on you fucker pick up damn it."

For a moment nothing happened it kept ringing and then an image of a four eye barbarian with blood running down the side of his dirty face and a rifle resting against his shoulder appeared.

"Aria?" inquired the Barbarian in surprise

"Bartone you fucking worm, I am amazed you are still alive." stated Aria

"Same to you, you blue skin whore." stated the barbarian, Bartone it seemed, as both of them smiled at each other even as they threw insults. "Where the fuck are you?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you, but we need information what is the state the war on the ground?" inquired Aria

"War…what war? We are being slaughtered like animals before going to market." Countered Bartone as he coughed up some blood. "The world is fucking lost, they swarmed through everything we have and now they are picking over the left overs. Not many of us left and free."

"90 million people if the sensors on this ship is to be believed." Answered Aria

"Fuck, that is more than I thought." Stated Bartone "How do you know that?"

"Got some really good new partners, with some really fun toys, but that 90 million includes those in the camps…what are they doing?" inquired Aria

"Building ships, I saw one of their Capital ships rise out one of the one of those buildings outside of the capital." Stated Bartone as Drugo shook his head at the news. The Reaper's building ships was to be expected, he didn't like it but it wasn't something he hadn't been expecting.

"Is there anything else you have heard from your contacts." Inquired Aria

"We heard of a large group of Reapers doing mining operations outside of Druniam City but everything out of that area stopped before anywhere else." Stated Bartone

"Where is that?" inquired Drugo

"Who is that?" inquired Bartone at the sound of the stranger's voice.

"A friend." Answered Aria as she looked at the holographic map before answer the Drugo's question. "Other side of the planet."

Drugo nodded toward Tyrion who was monitoring the movement of the Reaper ships closely, so far none of them had moved toward them or taken any action that showed that they even knew that the Josephs Daniels was in system.

"Alright talk me through what happened how did they hit?" inquired Aria "What about the other worlds in Baratian Space?"

"Haven't heard much from them outside of the first reports of Reaper attack and massive death tolls." Stated Bartone as the Josephus Daniels moved around to the dark side of the planet, the movement allowed planet allowed the sensors to get a more detailed image of that side of the planet. Almost at once an alert appeared on Drugo's computer pad. He looked down at the information and narrowed his eyes at the information.

"Fast acting sons of bitches." stated Drugo as Aria looked at him. "The mining operation that your contact heard about is in fact a Naquadah mining operation and looks like the Reapers have around 2 dozen capital ships and thousands of their slaves working up a storm getting it out of the ground. Well…we will have to take that away for sure. We can't let them have that mine. Tyrion get a beaming lock we will drop a few nukes on it."

"Sir, I must remind you that after the events on Aquaria during the Colonial war we are not allowed to use a naquadah nuke on top of a naquadah mine without permission of high command." Stated Tryion

"Aquaria?" inquired Aria

"A world we all but destroyed when we dropped a Naquadah nuclear head on a Naquadah mine by mistake." explained Drugo as Aria's eyes widened a bit.

"Well if you did the same here you would kill a lot of Reapers." Stated Aria as Drugo looked at the information again.

"Tryion give me a simulation of what would happen if we did nuke that mine." Ordered Drugo "This world is all but lost, might as well take as many of the Reapers with it as it goes into the fire."

"High Command will not like that idea." Advised Tryion

"I know they will not but if the Reapers finish those ships down there and frees up the ships guarding this world how many more will die. And who knows what they will do with that Naquadah." Countered Drugo

"Likely use it to repair the super gate which was the Citadel so that they can bring in their reinforcements in the void between galaxies." stated Tryion neither of the Tau'ri saying what had actually befallen the Reaper support fleet and that the Reapers where wasting their time in repairing the super gate. Better to have those ships busy repairing a useless item in the Citadel then out conquering worlds. That information was a closely guarded secret not to be shared with the locals if possible.

"I agree, so am giving you and order have nukes on stand by if the Reapers start to head toward us we will destroy that mine before we pull out." ordered Drugo "We can't let the Reapers repair the super gate."

"Yes, sir." Stated Tryion "Naquadah warheads 5-10 on standby target locked on mine while 1-5 remain on standby to target ships that may come after us."

"Good." Confirmed Drugo "Make sure you send what we found to high…"

"Colonel Drugo emergency flash from Admiral Hackett and the high command, the Reapers have developed a counter to our beaming we are no longer able to beam nuclear weapons right onboard their ships." reported Tryion as Drugo's snared a bit at the news. "The counter does make them more open to rail guns used by the Citadel forces."

"That is some good news at least." stated Drugo "Now we wait for high command to decide what they want to."

"Alright can we beam my contact onboard he may have more information." Inquired Aria

"Sir, we can not know if this contact has been indoctrinated we can't risk the ship by beaming onboard this unknown." Countered Tryion as Aria began to raise a protest only to have Drugo beat her to the punch.

"I agree, we can't risk the ship by bringing him onboard without first checking him out." Stated Drugo before turning to Aria. "Aria you have a team downstairs in the cargo hold correct, a dozen men?"

"Yes." confirmed Aria

"How would they like to take a little trip to the surface with me to meet your contact." Inquired Drugo as Aria grinned.

"A chance to shoot at some people who really need to be killed? They will love it." Laughed Aria

"Go, I will meet you in the cargo hold in 5 minutes." Said Drugo as Aria turned and headed down the stairs leading toward the cargo hold, Drugo's eyes watching her go as Tryion watched the Colonel in command of this ship.

"I'll inform the strike team to prepare to leave as well." Stated Tryion

"No, put them on standby I will go down alone with Aria's team." Countermanded Drugo "We can't let the Reapers know that we are in the system and a large number of Tau'ri showing up will telegraphic that to them."

"Sir, Colonel Drugo may I have a word with you in private." inquired Tryion

"Alright." Said Drugo as he walked up a small flight of stairs to the private cabin/office which was his while he commanded this ship. "Now what is so important that you want to drag me up here?"

"Sir, with all due respect you are putting way to much trust in this Aria." Stated Tryion "She isn't the type of person who high command or even myself would trust and yet you are willing to go alone to an occupied world with only her and her team to watch your back. This is unwise."

"It is, but it still the best play, you can monitor my helmet mounted camera and beam us up at once." explained Drugo as Tryion let out a sigh

"Understood sir." Confirmed Tryion "Just make sure you look around, I don't want images of just our guest Asari's ass and breasts."

"Whatever do you mean?" inquired Drugo with a deadpan voice.

"Sir, I am not just a hologram I monitor everything on this ship and I can track eye movement and you have been checking out our guest and I can detected the increase heat in your cheeks from the blush you are attempting to hide." explained Tryion as Drugo shrugged.

"Maybe a little." admitted Drugo "I remember my father watching old Star Trek episodes and those green skinned women, personally I rather liked blue."

"Right…" said Tryion not believing him in the slightest.

"And it doesn't hurt that she is very good on the eyes." Added Drugo "Now I need to get ready, I get to go down to an occupied planet full of 2 kilometer tall ships all of whom want to kill all life. What could possibly go wrong."

"A great many things." countered Tryion as he watched the Colonel head down to the cargo bay and the armory.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15 Clash of Cultures Part 2**

For Colonel Drugo appearing a flash of light was nothing out of the ordinary in the life of a Tau'ri Spetsnaz member, for his new squad mates Aria T'Loak and her dozen mercury guards it was something new. For a moment the 11 of them where blinded by the light most of all eight Batarians in their party. Four eyes seamed to make the flash borderline painful while for the others it meant they where seeing stars for the moment. Drugo was used to it, as used as he was to the Russian winters in the Ural Mountains back in his hometown, in order world he didn't like it but he could stand it. While the others where recovering he took in his surroundings, they had picked the spot from orbit to be nearby to Aria's contact Bartone. The area seamed to have been a type of apartment complexes, seamed was key because of the four buildings which used to surround an inner courtyard three of them where flattened and the forth was two stories tall on one side and six and a half on the other. The smell of smoke and days old rotten corpses filled the air, Drugo's helmet had filters which would scrub the air if the stench reached a level which was overpowering or something toxic was detected. On his heads up display he saw that aside from himself and the 13 others with him the area within 50 yards was clear of anything living. The Josephus Daneils sensors had confirmed that no one was alive within 350 yards and beyond that was a single group of 5 before the next group over a kilometer away. Still he scanned the area for anything that could be a threat, life sign detectors didn't work for drones or other none living weapons. He saw nothing.

"You all good?" inquired Drugo

"I have been better." confirmed Aria as she scanned the area as well. "Lovely, brown and brown and for a sudden change more brown."

For a moment Drugo was confused and then he noticed that all the rubble and the remaining building was made of brown material. Even the pieces of rubble which looked like steal was brown in color, same went for what seamed to be a drywall like substance.

"Batarians like brown I assume?" inquired Drugo

"No, they hate it." answered Aria as she bent down and picked up a metal ring with a broken chain attached to the ring and ripped off bindings as if the ring was meant to be on a wall. "These where slave housing and for slaves only the worse would do."

"Really, they still used chains?" inquired Drugo as he took the ring in his hand. "I was expecting sensors and the like."

"That is what we do mostly." stated a Batarian "The chains are used for punishment and to chain the doors of slaves shut at night."

"Seams like a waste for the doors." stated Drugo as a distant roar filled the air, it was so load that some loss pieces of wall began to fall from the nearby building. "Move!"

They didn't have to be told again as they moved across the rubble toward the still semi standing building. They gained the cover just as another much closer rubble filled the air, in the distance coming out from behind what remained of a small series of skyscrapers was a small reaper. It was small only when compared to the two-kilometer-long capital ships, but it stood at least 3/4th of a Kilometer high and when it walked the ground shook.

It turned its body toward them for a moment and everyone held their breaths as the Reaper let out a load mechanical sound. Moments past and it just stood there before another similar sounding cry came from the west, it was softer but only because of the distance the sound had to travel to reach the teams ears as they took cover in the shadows of the destroyed building. After that distance cry the Reaper turned toward the source of the second sound and heading toward the west away from them.

"That was too close." stated Drugo as he watched the giant ship move away from the group. "Come on lets move."

"You aren't the boss here." counted one of the Batarians as he looked toward Aria only to see that she was walking stride in stride with the Tau'ri. Her heavy pistol ready while he carried a shortened carbine rifle with a silencer attached to the barrel. Behind them the rest of Aria's men formed up as they headed into the darkened building. As they did Drugo noticed that along each door was bashed opened and broken chains covered the ground. Between each door on the wall was a loop where a chain would go through. In his mind's eye Drugo could see a long line of chains stretching across each of the doors.

"A slave rebelling?" inquired a Krogan

"Not likely." Answered another Batarian "These slave cells where busted into and not open in the proper way. Even slaves would know that breaking down each door, breaking their locks and busting the chain wouldn't be the way to get out. A command switch is located in the slave master's office and then all one would have to do is pull the chains off the door."

"If you have electronic locks on the doors why would you chain the doors?" inquired Drugo as he looked into one of the cells which wasn't full of rubble, it was a tinny room. Maybe 10 ft by 10 ft by 10 ft, with what seamed to pass for a toilet in one corner and no bed. For a single person it would have been bad, but he could see the remains of at least 10 to 12 people in the room.

"Tradition." stated the Batarian "We didn't always have the tracking technology and this is a left over from those days."

"I see." said Drugo as they neared a T junction and paused for a moment, as one he and Aria leaned out into hallway, Aria aiming one way while he aimed the other. Nothing was moving on his end, however leaning up against a wall was the remains of a Quarin. Its suit was busted open and looked like it had been in horrible condition before, the front visor was smashed in and glass shards covered her face.

"Can Quarians need these to breath or what?" inquired Drugo

"No, but they need some kind of special environment to live." Stated Aria as she kicked the dead body. "Billions of years of evolution and they can't spend up to the common germs not native to their home world, which they lost to them."

"To the Geth right, I read about that." explained Drugo as he recalled that piece of information.

"Quarians make good slaves." Stated one of the Batarians as Drugo looked at the body again, compared to a Krogan they were tiny and weak looking. If they needed a suit to live, that gave some extra control but put the slave at a high risk of dying, a bad investment in the view of the slave holder. He couldn't see a reason why they would be good slaves. "No one misses them, the council will raise a stink when their people go under the chain and Krogans fight back too much to make good slaves. Quarians however, no one misses them when they are taken."

"Come on lets getting moving our contact should be near." stated Aria, she wasn't wrong the contact was close, just over 300 yards away now. They moved through the darkened remains of the building, there was surprising few bodies, at first that confused Drugo then he saw out a window a long line of dragon teeth all of which where empty at the moment and seamed abounded. It didn't take much to realize that the Reapers had likely turned the trapped slaves into ground soldiers to help take over the planet.

They reached what seamed to be the lobby of the building which like everything else to be torn apart with multiple bullet holes in the walls and a blast crater in the floor by the door. Outside a few vehicles could be seen in the streets, most where flipped over or burned out, one or two looked to be in good enough shape to drive but that would be asking for trouble. On his heads up display his sensors detected five people about 75 yards away now. He poked his rifle out the broken door and let the camera mounted gun scout a bit for him beyond the range of his life sign detector.

The road was narrow and across the road was a much more intact building of a similar design. Judging from the distance the contacts where in that building, likely on the second or third floor. He aimed his rifle out the door providing a small profile to be noticed by anyone, he saw nothing down either road and the way across seamed clear. No enemy foot, no sign of drones or other sensors, those would likely be on the main streets but to put them on every side street and back alley couldn't be done with any great ease or in a short amount of time.

"On…three." ordered Drugo as Aria and her team nodded their heads in agreement, as he raised one of his hands and held up 3 fingers. He quickly centered himself and dropped each finger before pointing forward. The group rushed forward, as they did he spun to one side aiming his rifle down one road. To his impressed amazement his rifle wasn't the only one pointed that way, a member of Aria's team was aiming down the road as well. Aria had spun the other way along with one of her hired guns supporting her while others moved forward and one of their numbers running backwards as best he could to cover their rear. No shots rang out and no sounds of alarms could be heard either as they reached the far building. It was a layout twin to the one they had been in, the lobby was just as a mess with hallways lined with tinny cells all broken into.

"Which way?" inquired Aria as Drugo looked at his life sign detector. It told him he was within a 10 yards of a group of five people. In fact the first sign was almost directly above them but to the left deeper into the building.

"Above, one maybe two floors." Answered Drugo, as he pointed toward the stairs located just off from the lobby. "One of your team better go first, they haven't seen a Tau'ri before."

"Agreed." said Aria as he pointed to two of her Batarian guards. The two nodded and headed toward the stairs, one of them covering the other as they headed up the stairs. "Batarians tend to not trust people with less than 4 eyes."

"How many races in your galaxy have more then 4 eyes?" inquired Drugo

"Besides the Batarians, one the Yahg and they haven't even reached space flight yet." stated Aria as Drugo turned his attention back to the heads up display, the two "friendly" life signs of Aria's guards where now within 5 yards of the 1st of the group of five, a look out on the stairs more than likely. He watched and listened for gunfire, the two groups came together and on his display, he could see the 4 resting members of the party they had come to find move toward their guard. Then the lead Batarian that Aria had sent up moved to join the group, followed seconds later by a yell down.

"All go, we found them, come up." said a Batarian voice as they moved up the stairs, what they found where five other Batarians. To the untrained eye they would have looked almost identical, two of their numbers where a slightly different shade and slightly taller. Two of them seamed to be either children or young adults at the most. The last of their number looked similar to the Batarians Aria had brought with her.

"Bartone, I would say it is nice to see you in the flesh but then I remember how much I hate looking at your ugly face." stated Aria

"I may hate you, you whore but at the moment I couldn't be happier to see you and your team." stated Bartone "Can you get the females and children off world. I will help you with whatever you may need but there are likely not many female Batarians of breading age left and the children are just as important for the future of my people."

"We have a way, Tau'ri get up here!" ordered Aria in a tone which was a mix of an order and a joking request.

"Sure, Asari." countered Drugo while holding back a chuckle at the look on Aria's face as he talked back to her. He wasn't sure anyone really talked back to her, but maybe she heard the chuckle in his voice because while giving him the stink eye, the corner of her lip turned up in a grin of her own. He turned attention to the four figures in front of him, likely civilians and unarmed at that. So far only Bartone, Aria's team and himself seamed armed. They were dirty and covered with cuts and bruises, what one would expect to see in refugees. "Tyrion, do you see anything wrong with them on our scanners?"

"No, getting a base line on their rate of breathing and eye movements, hold on for a moment." Answered Tyrion in Drugo's helmet. "I wished they could install the latest version Za'tarct lie detector on battle armor. It would make this a lot easier but looks like I will have to do it the old fashion way by comparing breathing rate and eye dilation and they have four eyes instead of two. Ok I am going to say some question repeat it."

"Are you Batarians?" stated Drugo as the Citadel members looked at him.

"Yes." Answered all them.

"Are you on the Citadel?" inquired Drugo

"No, are you an idiot." countered the 1st one but the rest answered the question. After a few more of these somewhat stupid questions which had clear wrong and right answers, answers Drugo should have known Aria began to piece together what was happening. She grinned and waited a few more questions.

"Are you working for the Reapers in any way?" inquired Drugo

"No…" snapped all four of them clearly insulted at the idea. For a moment Drugo said nothing then he raised his rifle and aimed it at one of the adult females.

"You are lying." reported Drugo

"What!" yelled the accused female

"Your breathing rate increased in such a way that you are lying about working for the Reapers." answered Drugo "Your indoctrinated, I wouldn't be surprised if your mission is to bring the remaining Batarians civilians in."

"That is how I would do it." Confirmed Aria "Well I would actually use a kid, who wouldn't help a kid."

"So would I." added Drugo "But the kids check out for the moment, they passed the test."

"You where contacting a lie detector test." stated Aria as Drugo nodded slightly.

"I must admit, this method isn't 100% full proof, not even on Tau'ri which we know a lot more about but we can't take the risk so turn around." ordered Drugo as he pulled a set of wire ties out from his vest, tossing them to Aria. "Restrain her hands and then we will get her and the others somewhere off world. Maybe once we defeat the Reapers we can…what would you call it un-indoctrination. Whatever maybe we can help her."

"I can't believe you are trusting these two eyes." countered the accused Batarian

"I am not saying no, and you will all be watched closely but you need to be restrained before you head off world." Stated Drugo

"Prove the two eyed wrong." Stated Barton with anger toward Aria but not wanting to give up a chance to get off world would tolerate this insult. With that being said the Batarian spun around and placed her hand behind her back, but before she could be restrained, she bolted down the hallway away from them. She didn't get far before two quick burst of fire brought him down. A burst round from Drugo and a burst of fire from Aria heavy pistol. That caused her to fall to the ground twitching a bit as her life sign disappeared off Drugo's sensor.

"So she was a traitor." stated one of the Krogans "Good call Tau'ri."

"Or she wasn't a traitor and he didn't trust you to not hurt him." countered the other of Batarian female. "And you murdered her for no good reason."

"Either way, she is just another body on the pile, and it is a big fucking pile at the moment." Stated Aria as Drugo nodded his head, smiling under his helmet before turning back toward the now single Batarian female and the two children.

"Let's get you out of here." ordered Drugo as the Batarians expected to have to follow him to an evacuation point, however instead the three of them disappeared in a flash of light. The sudden disappearance caused Bartone to raise his rifle toward Drugo.

"I made some new friends, Bartone allow me to introduce Colonel Drugo of the Tau'ri." introduced Aria "Your people are now currently onboard his ship. Now we have things to talk about, such as what the Reapers are up to."

 **For the C-Sec officers it was possibly the tensest moment in a day that was already beyond stressful, they stood before the Tau'ri Stargate weapons at the ready.** They where not alone there where Tau'ri moving around organizing the 1st evacuation wave from the Citadel arms. Multiple civilians, the most critical wounded from the battle between the Reapers and C-Sec had been loaded onto Tau'ri trucks, the same trucks which had carried weapons of war only a short while ago. There where doctors of course and samples of medicines to share with the Tau'ri.

"You ready?" inquired Major Hayashi to the head C-Sec officer

"As much as we can be." Answered the officer

"Alright, people we are a go dial the gate." Ordered Major Hayashi into her radio as the trucks started up as the gate began to spin. All the C-Sec officers, most of them Turian but with a handful of Salarians and Asari tensed up a bit as the gate opened with a rush of blue energy.

"Alright people start the clock, we need to get these people through. I want group 2 on standby to head out as well, group 3 to begin loading up as well." ordered Major Hayashi as the first Tau'ri headed through the gate, this was to show the locals that it was safe. The C-Sec officers tensed up as they moved forward even their courage failing them briefly in this moment as the stood before the rippling pool of energy. Finally, they stepped through the event horizon and felt a strange feeling as if they where being pulled rapidly through space, which they were. Then within seconds they stepped out into a cool even air of a strange world, it was a fall evening with a hint of colder weather to come.

They where standing in a large open area, there where multiple defense platforms and heavy weapons all around them. Which caused all the officers to tense up for a moment, but none of the weapons opened up on them and they where instantly distracted by the sight of 5 Dreadnought ships hovering near the area. The ships where strange, only one of them had weapons and it was painted the same black as the other Tau'ri warships they had seen over the Citadel arms. The other four seamed unarmed and where painted white, along the haul where multiple strange symbols painted in red. The C-Sec officers moved forward as the trucks and other officers came out of the gate.

"Wounded right?" inquired a voice as the C-Sec officers looked at a tall Tau'ri with graying hair.

"Yes." Said the head officer

"Alright, welcome to Valhalla in the Milky Way Galaxy now we have four hospital ships over there waiting to take on your wounded." reported the Tau'ri as he pointed toward a long line of transports all painted white with matching red markings. "We have Owls to transport you up there, we didn't want to scare you by beaming you to the ships."

"You have dreadnought sized hospital ships?" inquired one of the Asari guards

"Yes, after the Colonial War we took 12 of the carries whose haul had been laid and modified them to be hospital ships. We don't normally have more then two in any one system at a time but this is a massive operation." Explained the Tau'ri "We have another two on route and they should arrive within 10 hours but sadly the others can not be sent at this time."

"Why not, surely you can't have anything more pressing then the Reaper war?" countered a Salarain

"It's a big galaxy, lets see the TAV Mercy is dealing with a comet strike and can't be deployed here, the TAV Hope, TAV Para and TAV Daishandao are all currently in the Pegasus galaxy dealing with issues there." explained the officer "There is also multiple hospitals in the cites but we thought it would easier if you where all together instead of spread out over large parts of the pla….."

"By the Goddess!" exclaimed one of the Asari officers as she spun around and pointed a weapon up and over the gate toward a massive shape which was passing them by. The other officers spun around as well and looked up toward the massive shape. It was bursting out of the cloud cover and descending downward.

"Oh…she is back early." stated the Tau'ri officer as the C-Sec officers looked at the massive ship passing them by in the evening sky. It was massive, larger than any ship they had ever seen it made the Destiny Ascension and even the Reapers they had seen look tiny. The ship looked semi sword shaped like all the Tau'ri capital ships seemed to be, with a long center line which came to a point. Unlike the battleships which had a small hangers jutting out about a quarter of the way from the end of the ship, and carriers which had them running down all but the front quarter of the ship this had two large hangers which covered about half the length of the entire ship and hung out on arms away from the main body of the ship. The massive engines where located in the back glowed a deep blue as it moved slowly across the sky. There was an escort of other ships around it including two other dreadnoughts which seamed to be sister ships of the ones they had seen in their own galaxy. Those ships which where dreadnought class looked tiny in comparison to the massive ship moving across the sky nearby.

"What is that?" inquired the C-Sec officer.

"The TAV Jack O'Neill, our new Battleship the first of the O'Neill class and the new flagship of the Tau'ri Navy once it enters the fleet." Answered the Tau'ri officer with a huge smile. "She must have finished her sea trials early to help deal with the Reapers in your galaxy believe me a lot of people are excited to see her go into battle. That is 5.5 Kilometers worth of pure death and destruction. With hanger bays longer then whole carriers and covered with enough weapons to crush whole fleets single handed it is the most powerful warship in the galaxy and her sister ships the Samantha Carter, the Teal'c and the Dr. Daniel Jackson are all already under construction."

The C-Sec officers just looked at the Tau'ri officer in amazement, the idea of a ship as large as the O'Neill was unimaginable by their standards. The amount of element zero and other supplies needed to just build a ship of that size would break the backbone of at least two if not all three council races economy, but here the Tau'ri had not just ready but another three being constructed.

"Follow me, please I will take you to the hospital ships." Said the Tau'ri officer as he lead them toward the line of transports.

 **Space ripped opened in a vortex of energy as two black ships exited hyperspace before pausing for a moment.** The system before them was next to empty with a single rocky planet and a large gas giant rotating around a single star. There was no settlements, no ships or anything that showed any advanced life had ever visited the system aside from the Mass Effect relay located between the gas giant and the planet. The two ships moved forward, with the smaller of the two ships in the lead and the slightly larger ship behind. The first ship was a Daedalus class battlecruiser with a simple mission, protect the larger ship behind it. That ship was the Archimedes class research vessel the TAV Euclid, named after one of the most famous mathematises and often referred to as the "founder of Geometry." Standing in the main lab onboard that science vessel was a man who considered himself at least the equal if not the superior to Euclid, Dr. Rush.

"This is such a waste of my time." Said Rush to himself as the powerful scanners on the Euclid began to scan the Relay. He should be focusing on preparing for the Destiny II mission to discovery possibly the origins of the universe and finish the mission of the Ancients. Instead he was out here studying these Mass Effect relays. "Let's see a large mass effect generator near the center, with what seams to be a directional release of some kind along the main axis I assume that the relays maintain a kind of mass effect passage which allows ships to travel at much faster than light speed but only along the corridor?"

"Yes, that is correct Doctor Rush." Said one of the three Salarian sciences who had come to aid him on his task. "The center area, is a mass effect generator contained within spinning rings and when a ship approaches it sends a small part of that mass effect energy to the ship which interacts with it's own mass effect core and allows build up around the ship to such a point that it launches the ship down corridor but the bulk of the mass effect energy is used to maintain the corridor as you call it."

"A wasteful design if you ask me." Said Rush, he had learned the names of the three Salarians and had forgotten them almost at once. Their names weren't important information at the moment, he only needed them to confirm his findings. "It limits movement to only those fixed points and nothing else, it limits the amount of space you can explore and research. I assume that you can control the distance you travel by the amount of energy to generate on your ships mass effect field?"

"Correct, if you want to go straight through a couple of relays all that has to be done is buildup extra power at the first relay and it will send you straight through multiple relays." Answered the second Salarian as he tapped a few command in his omni-tool, within moments a hologram appeared on the holo table in front of Rush. It showed a Relay and a ship approaching it, energy was built up within the relay before it sent a small amount of the energy out to the ship. That energy boosted the field within the ship and guided it into the corridor of mass effect energy which sent it shooting away. "It is kind of like a firearm, only a whole ship is fired instead of a round."

"I see, and we need to find a way to shut it down without blowing it up." stated Rush

"The SGC has looked into this possibility in the past and determent it to be impossible." explained one of the Salarians. "The energy built up is just too much to be shut down in any quick way."

"Quick? So you have a way to shut it down?" inquired Rush as the three Salarians shared a look between each other.

"In theory, there are dominate relays awaiting activation so there has to be a way to shut them down but we never figured it out, truth be told it was never even researched that deeply." stated the Salarian

"What is the activation process?" inquired Rush

"The activation process which is simple and to the point, merely turning it on and letting it build up energy as it lines itself with the nearest relay and therefor the network as a whole and it is ready to use." explained the second Salarian "It has been theorized that their must be a shutdown command since there is deactivated ones but estimates where to safety release the energy built up within the relay would take at least a year and that isn't useful to us."

"No, it isn't." said Rush as he turned to the scans of the Relay. "Maybe once we get its base coding, we will be able to find an emergency shut off command. Only a fool wouldn't design something like this without an emergency shut off."

"You want to find and decode the base operating code of a mass effect relay?" inquired the head Salarian, as the other two looked at him with an expression which wondered if Rush was sane.

"Yes." confirmed Rush as he began to study the scans of the Relay looking for a command center located deep within the heart of the Relay. "There has to be either a command center or access port to carry out repairs and upkeep on the relays, find that we find a control computer and we get the base code and we decode it. Shouldn't be an issue at all."

 **Onboard the Prometheus Admiral Hackett was looking over a series of reports coming in from all over this galaxy.** He was missing being back in the Milky Way Galaxy or the Pegasus Galaxy where he knew the lay of the land and he had access to either real time or near real time movement of ships across the galaxy. Here he was piecing together information about multiple fleet movements among races he didn't fully understand, this meant he had to keep second guessing the objectives of the different fleet movements. He had reports that the Salarian 3rd and 9th fleets where removing Salarians from a newly established colony and pulling them back into the heart of the Salarian home systems. Was this merely to have one less far off world to defend so they could committee more forces to offensive warfare or was this a pull back to a defensive position.

The Turians where less of a mystery to him, they where throwing everything they could their hands on at the Reaper Fleet over their home world of Palaven, so far they had managed to keep the Reaper forces busy with them and had actually managed some large scale evacuations of civilians but that wasn't going to last forever. The Turians the largest and strongest military native to this galaxy was being worn down keeping the Reapers on Palaven in check, once reinforcement Reapers arrived from Batarian space the tie would be over and the Turians would be forced back hard and fast.

The Asari where in a similar boat as the Turians defending their home world of Thessia they were actually having success against the Reapers there and forced back the Reapers on the ground but at heavy cost compared to the relatively small percentage of Reaper forces currently striking the Asari. They would be forced back even harder once the Reapers broke out of Batarian space.

"Sir, I estimate that if we have 10 days before the Reapers finish off the Batarians and move on to the next race, likely the Turian." Stated the ship born AI onboard the Prometheus. "Once they are in the fight, the Turian will fall within another 15 to 25 days. By my estimates if the Reapers follow their current battle plan of crushing one race at a time, we are looking at full conquest of this galaxy by the Reapers within 6 to 9 months with a total kill well within the hundreds of trillions."

"Understood, there is nothing we can do about that at the moment." Stated Hackett as he turned his gaze toward the holographic map display of the assembling Super gate. "We need to get our gate open so we can bring reinforcements to this fight and turn the tide of this war. Any reports from our recon ships about Reaper movement outside of the Batarians, Turian and Asari space?"

"The large Reaper fleet gathered at the Citadel remain in place, we believe they are attempting to repair the gate to bring in their reinforcements from the void between galaxies." Reported the AI "Judging from reports from Colonel Drugo on the Batarian home world they are mining a small despot of Naquadah there, likely to replace the Naquadah needed to make the Citadel Supergate operation."

"And how long will it take them to replace the two Citadel Arms?" inquired Hackett

"Sir, they don't need to replace the whole arms, no need to build skyscrapers and living quarters it would be of no use at the moment for them." Countered the AI "Only the small part of the Citadel was made out of Naquadah, mostly the center ring which is the gate itself. We took two large section but left three others that can be put right back in. They would only need to replace those two and the theatrically they can open the gate."

"But we destroyed the Reaper reserve fleet with our black hole bomb." Stated Hackett "But that is something they don't know about, or else there is no reason to waste time and resources to rebuild the gate now. They could redeploy those ships to one of multiple fronts and that could mean whole worlds lost, every moment they stay there is lives saved through Reaper inaction. I don't want them to find out that and break that fleet up."

"Sir are you approving Colonel Drugo request to carry out a nuclear strike on the Naquadah mine?" inquired the AI

"No, not yet I don't want the locals to think we blow up planets for no reason. That could ruin our work to bring a united front against these Reapers." explained Hackett "They have the green light if they detected a large amount of Naquadah or the needed part to fix the gate leaving the surface to carry out the strike, until then I want more intelligence about the Reapers operations. Inform Colonel Drugo intelligence gathering only, only engage if needed."

"Aye…Aye sir." Said the AI as the order was sent out within seconds. "Sir, the Krogan ship along with the Asari and Salarian Delegations have arrived and are approaching."

"ETA till the Normandy arrives with the Turian Primark?" inquired Hackett

"15 minutes." answered the AI "Shall I send landing instructions for the Citadel ships to land by the gate?"

"Do it I will meet them there." ordered Hackett as he went off to play diplomat. Even though he was technically a greater distance away from the Hanger now attached to the gate room, he arrived there well before the shuttle crafts carrying the Salarians, Asari and Krogan leaders appearing in a side room away from the Citadel Race guards which helped secured the hanger. The hanger was originally going to be part of a planet side forward operation base or FOB but it would serve it's new mission as a hanger for refugee ships with ease. A large covered walkway attached it to the building with the Stargate. An honor guard had been assembled to welcome the visitors and there was of course C-Sec guards as well, the Tau'ri didn't really need them to make sure the building was safe but it helped make them feel better and made the evacuation of civilians easier. The last thing the Tau'ri wanted was to have to deal with the people they where trying to save think they where enemies trying to kill them.

As Hackett stood there waiting, he heard the sound of the stargate only a little bit away opening up, he couldn't tell by the sound if it was an incoming or outgoing wormhole not that it really mattered at the moment. His thoughts where interrupted as three shuttles passed through the shield at the far end of the hanger. The three shuttles looked like cousins to each other, clearly, they where the same design but going off how dirty and beat up one of them was it was either an older model or a more well used one. All three shuttles looked similar to cars to Hackett, with a curved top and four independent moving engines on small legs attached two to the front and two to the back.

Hackett turned his gaze away from the shuttles and to a line of four Tau'ri Owls, the transport aircraft which was the workhorse of the Tau'ri seeing action in every conflict since before even the Colonial War still looked like an aircraft, even with all it's upgrades it looked like an aircraft not these car-like things the Citadel used. He turned his gaze away from the black transports as the brown shuttle opened up the side door making a grinding sound as it opened. Out of it stepped a giant of a being which towered over everything, it's giant hump and armored both in advanced armor and natural hardened plates. The Krogan seemed to sniff the air for a moment as if taking in the scent or maybe it was an attempt to scare any nearby Tau'ri in that case it worked. His eyes fell upon Hackett and with only a couple of stepped he came right up to him.

"You must be Admiral Hackett, I must admit even though I saw some of your people on my home world you are a strange race to look upon." stated Wrex "Kind of like none blue Asari with fur on top of your head."

"Well not all of us have hair and in my case the hair is leaving." countered Hackett as he lifted his hat to show his balding head, which caused Wrex to chuckle a bit. As one of the other Krogans which had been standing beside this shuttle laughed first, followed moments later by the others. "You must be Wrex, leader of the Krogan clans."

"I wouldn't go that far, but the other clans follow mine and they will follow any move I make with ease if they feel it is beneficial to them and our people." admitted Wrex as the sound of more shuttle doors opening caused him to turn his attention back toward the two-cleaner shuttle. Out of one stepped multiple Asari dressed for combat with rifles lowered but at the ready, behind them came an Asari dressed in red and white, councilwoman Tevos of the Asari. Out of the second shuttle came an equal number of Salarian guards armed with their own rifles, as a Salarian dressed in blue and red with gold highlight robes.

The guards where on edge as their council members moved forward toward the Tau'ri admiral.

"Councilwomen Tevos, Councilman Valern, welcome." said Hackett "I am Admiral Hackett of the Tau'ri Navy and commander of the Prometheus exploration fleet."

"I feel we need to offer you our thanks for saving our Citizens at the Citadel." Offered Councilwoman Tevos

"We couldn't allow those people to die while we could help them, I am just sorry that we couldn't save them all." Admitted Hackett "We didn't have the forces to hold the system so we saved what we could."

"They are more ashamed that you had to save their asses." stated Wrex with a booming laugh. "Where are the others, the floating fish and the slow-moving giants."

"The Hanar and the Elcor have entrusted us to represent their interest in the talks with the Tau'ri." explained the Salarian Councilman Valern "I do not know why you are here; your kind will not be useful in a situation like this."

"And they say the Salarians are smart, my kind not useful in a war?" laughed Wrex as the Salarian eyes narrowed. "I think in times like these my kind would be most useful."

"Maybe if Krogans thought about more then their next fight you would be able to understand that your kind isn't useful in high level talks between delegations of multiple races." Explained Valern

"When will the Primarch arrive?" inquired Councilwoman Tevos hoping to change the subject and get them to focused on the real threat of the Reaper.

"Should be any moment." Answered Hackett as a black Owl Transport passed through the shield followed moments later by two more owls. The owls moved toward the landing area, Hackett could see the Salarian and Asari guards tense up as the back ramps of the transports lowered. They relaxed a bit as they spotted Spectre Vakarian and his team along with the Primarch Victus. Out of the other two came Sheppard and his team along with rest of Garrus team. Sheppard for his part along with his team moved to stand beside their owls while Garrus and his team escorted the Primarch up to the rest of the delegation.

"Primarch Victus, I am Admiral Hackett of the Tau'ri." introduced Hackett

"I must thank you for sending one of your ships to pick me up from Palaven, however we do not have much time. Every moment we wait, is another moment where my people die." Stated Primarch Victus

"Very well." said Hackett as he turned toward Sheppard. "Major Sheppard pick 3 of your team to head back to Valhalla as escorts. Doctor O'Neill you are heading back as well."

"Sir?" inquired Sheppard surprised by the news.

"Direct orders from President Carter, I don't know why." explained Hackett as Sheppard nodded his head, as Hackett looked back to their guests. "President Carter has also requested to meet, your Spectre Vakarian and his team. They will of course be allowed to go armed along with the rest of your protective detail."

"More guards can't hurt." added Councilwoman Tevos.

"Thank you, I am sorry that I will not be able to join you, I must remain with the fleet and oversee construction of the supergate." Added Hackett

"Supergate?" inquired Wrex

"We will fill you in Wrex." explained Garrus

"You better." countered Wrex "How are we getting wherever we are going."

"Allow me to show you." said Hackett as he turned and headed toward a corridor, behind him the Citadel members walked along with a corridor and entered the gate room. It was a hive of activity with the Stargate currently open and a line of refugees walking through the gate or riding in trucks which had earlier been loaded with weapons of war for the fleet.

"Major, send message to Valhalla the delegation is ready to enter the gate." ordered Hackett to the Major running the operation. She paused for a moment tapping the side of her helmet allowing her to broadcast a radio message through the gate to her counterparts on Valhalla. The pause gave the Citadel races a moment to look at the gate, as Tau'ri load soldiers ordered a halt to the refugees heading through the gate.

"That is a Stargate?" inquired Liara

"Yes, it is." Confirmed Sheppard as he, along with Ashley, Sam and Miranda stopped for a moment to look at the reactions of the Citadel members. They had never seen a stargate before and prospect of stepping through a wormhole and coming out in a totally different galaxy was unbelievable to them.

"You have done this before?" inquired Liara

"Since I was a baby." answered Sheppard

"Don't worry, the Ancients put in tons of fail safes once you step through you will come out on the other side." Reassured Miranda not adding that it was possible not to come through if the safety protocols where bypassed, that had happened in the early days of the Stargate program but not here.

"Major Sheppard, it's your show." Said Hackett as Sheppard stepped toward as he turned back to the Citadel council members. "I wish you all luck, we will hold down the fort while you are gone."

"Now there is no reason to be concerned, the portal before you is only a opening of a wormhole which connects this Stargate to another one in our home galaxy on our world of Valhalla." Explained Sheppard "All you have to do is walk through the gate and within moments you will be on another planet in another galaxy. Now please follow me."

With that Sheppard calmly turned and walked through the gate, followed seconds later my Miranda, Ashely stood at the edge and watched the Citadel members just stand there stunned for a moment. Then finally Garrus stepped forward and with a stopping right in front of the event horizon he turned toward Ashely.

"See you on the other side." said Ashley as she stepped through, she felt a familiar rush before her foot stepped onto Valhalla. She had been to Valhalla multiple times having been deployed here as a young fresh out of bootcamp marine ready to go invade the 12 colonies of Kobol. The area around the gate was much like she remembered a large open area so that trucks could move in and out of the gate, or trains using limited hovering abilities to use the gate before coming back to rest on rails. Multiple fixed defenses surrounded the gate as well to make sure it was defended, and powerful sensors scanned everything coming in and out for any threats to the people of Valhalla. The only things that took her aback was the massive operation nearby as Citadel race members where being loaded onto passenger railroad cars for the trip to refugee centers and the floating hospital ships in the night sky. Standing in perfect parade ground formation where Tau'ri marines, sailors, soldiers and airman in their dress uniforms. At the far end stood President Carter to her right was General Leong head of all Tau'ri military and to her left was General John Sheppard commander of Tau'ri Pegasus.

Before she could process the fact that General Sheppard, Torren's step father had come all the way from Pegasus front for this meeting. She knew of how Torren and John had a tense relationship, and this wasn't something she wanted to deal with.

"Ah…good to be home." said Sam as Ashely looked toward her friend, then she remembers of the three of them only she had been born on Earth, the other two where born in a different galaxy and in Sam's case she had moved to Valhalla when it was just a few hundred people starting a base and a city. Before she could say anything more the sound of footfalls behind her caused her to turn to see Garrus stepping through the gate followed moments later by Liara, Wrex and the rest of Garrus's team. Only once they where through moments later more of the guards came through weapons at the ready. Followed seconds later by the two council members along with the Primarch. They scanned the area, the Primarch's eyes moved toward the far side of the area where a line of Leopard 3 main battle tanks sat at rest and the multiple defenses on the ground before he spotted the massive ships hovering in the distance. The Asari councilwomen instead turned her gaze toward the refugees being loaded onto the nearby train or multiple transports before focusing on President Carter. The Salarian was harder to tell, damn near impossible because he had no pupils but judging how his head was moving he seamed to be taking everything in.

"So we are really in another galaxy?" inquired Tali

"Yes, you are." confirmed Sheppard as he moved forward, followed by Garrus and his team and the Citadel councilmembers. Their guards remained close but allowed the Councilmembers and the Primarch to take the lead. Sheppard stopped a few feet away from President Carter and snapped to attention and saluted. Ashley did the same while Miranda and Sam stood at formally but didn't snap a salute, neither one of them where in the military. Sam for her part smiled before returning the salute of a man she had known most of his life and a woman she had known well for a few years. She had of course had heard of Dr. Miranda Lawson, she was an up and coming researcher really going places and of course she knew the Granddaughter of her dead teammate.

"President Carter, may I introduce Council Spectre Garrus Vakarian." introduced Sheppard as he looked toward Garrus who stepped forward.

"Spectre Vakarian, I have read some of the reports about your and your teams actions against the Reapers and I am impressed hopefully we will be able to help you put an end to the Reaper threat." said Carter

"I hope so Madam President." Said Garrus as he looked toward the two council members, the Primarch and Wrex. "Allow me to introduce Urdnot Wrex of the Krogans, Primarch Victus of the Turian Hierarchy, Councilman Vectus of the Salarian Union and Councilwoman Tevos of the Asari."

"On behalf of the Tau'ri I welcome you to Valhalla and hope that the decisions we make here will be able to defeat the Reapers." Said President Carter as she looked at the victories from the Torch Galaxy. "Time is short, so I recommend we get started right away."

 **Well I hope you liked this chapter, until next time please keep reading. Wilkins75.**


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16 Clash of Cultures Part 3**

While the leaders took their own Owls toward the capital of Valhalla, Celin. Sheppard along with his team and some of Garrus team sat in their own Owl transport as it headed into the night sky toward Celin. These where not the normal military or even the civilian grade Owl transports which had become popular across Tau'ri space taking over the rolls Helicopters used to do. These where highly modified governmental transports, they had windows in the haul and padded seats instead of jump seats found on military Owls. It wasn't even painted the black color that had adopted by Tau'ri military which while didn't help them blend into any daytime sky did help with night and space operations but instead was painted a navy blue and silver the colors of the Tau'ri flag.

The Tau'ri for their part sat away from the windows allowing their guests from the Torch galaxy a chance to look out over the landscape. Not that there was really a whole lot to see at first, it was nearing 9 at night on a Tuesday, a lot of people were getting ready for bed and so the towns they did fly over where darkened. There was of course cars on the road and trains going on the rails but that less then normal due to the railroad being used to transport Citadel refugees to some of the old Military bases around Celin to be used as refugee centers.

"So this is another galaxy?" inquired Liara as she sat beside Sheppard all the while looking out the window at the darkened landscape. It didn't look much different then other worlds she had been on.

"It is." answered Shepard as the flight of Owls passed over the edge of a massive lake which opposite shoreline marked the border of Celin. Sadly, for Liara she had chosen to sit on the side which didn't have a direct view of Celin with its command tower and other sky scrapers which reached up into the night sky. It was Tali who actually spotted it first as everyone on that side of the transport got a good view of the lights which illuminated the steal, glass and other metal towers which rose gracefully into the night sky. He turned to see a disappointed look on Liara's face. "In a few seconds you will spot something rather interesting out there."

Liara looked out her window and saw a train traveling on a single raised platform and some buildings which seamed strange to her. Some of them looked out of place with everything around them, one of them looked like a primitive dock with a wooden ship with two large sailing ships siting off shore one of them flew a large black flag with a white skull and cross bones on it. The people seemed to be eating a candle lit dinner on its top deck, it made no sense to her and then she got more confused as colored explosions filled the sky.

"Ah…we timed that perfectly." stated Ashley as she sat behind Sheppard looking out the window on her seat, beside her Thane seamed focused on the explosions. "They are in the middle of their fireworks show."

Before Liara or Thane could inquire they passed by a large group of buildings that the Tau'ri knew to be an old fashion train station at the front raised up over the entrees however that wasn't what got their visitors attention. There was a large castle on top of a man made mountain, the castle was aglow with multiple colors as different images showing scenes which made no sense to their visitors but where instantly recognizable to the Tau'ri because it was part of their culture. They saw the Avengers final battle with Thanos, Vader and Luke Skywalker dueling with lightsabers, Winnie the Pooh riding a balloon up to surface of the castle and others a castle they also recognized as Elsa's Castle from Frozen.

"What is that?" inquired Thane

"Disney World Valhalla, it's a theme park? Do you guys have theme parks in your galaxy?" inquired Ashley, it was a real question because some cultures didn't have that idea. "It's a place with rides, games, shows, food and a lot of gifts shops."

"We have theme parks but nothing like that." answered Liara as the Owl made a turn which took Disney World out of view but brought Universal Studio Valhalla into view, their night time show was ending and giant holographic Minions where waving people goodbye as they left the park while doing some slap stick comedy on the side as the park closed down for the night.

"Well maybe after the Reaper War you can go visit." offered Ash "Hell I wouldn't be surprised if Disney, Universal and the others try to market stuff to you. They and other companies are the ones who are getting out like bandits from the Stargate, whole galaxies full of people who haven't seen one of their movies or other products."

"Worked great for them in the 12 Colonies, heard they are building a second park on Caprica and expanding their park on Libra." answered Sheppard "I think that raises their off-Earth Parks to 6 I think."

As they entered the residential area outside of Celin, the Owls didn't fly over the Colonial War Memorial park where the nuclear bomb went off which started the Colonial War. For ceremonial reasons that area was a no-fly zone and while unofficial most pilots passing nearby would salute the shrine/memorial as they pasted it by in the air, because they didn't have time to explain that to their guests the pilots who flew the owls didn't do that here. Below the warehouses which crowded around the lake side docks/train yard gave way to factories and then to housings, parks, schools and other civilian buildings. Then they passed over a circular wall which rose about 5 stories tall and was about 150 feet wide. The Citadel races didn't know that hidden within those walls where tons of drones, missile tubes, ground to space beam weapons and railguns enough to fill the sky with golden tracers and of course there was the shield. All these defenses had been put in after the nuclear strike on Valhalla. The Tau'ri 3rd Fleet above their heads wasn't the largest fleet in the Tau'ri navy but when the multiple defense platforms where added to the power of the warships the 3rd fleet was only second to the Tau'ri 1st fleet in pure firepower and the 1st fleet protected Earth, Mars and Venus.

"How…big is Tau'ri Space?" inquired Samara, even the Justicar was unsettled by the new development, she like everyone else from the Torch Galaxy was used the Asari being the most powerful culture and largest race while the Turians had the largest and strongest military. The dreadnoughts they had seen both in their galaxy and when they first arrived brought the military power into question and now she needed to hear again about the size of Tau'ri space. Maybe she hadn't believed it at first, it was a hard idea to believe but evidence was mounting fast that it was no lie.

"Hard question to answer, there are hundreds of thousands of worlds which are within our space but we haven't explored yet but in the Milky Way, which is this galaxy under the Treaty of Gaia and the new worlds which joined after that Tau'ri space spans just over 40% of the galaxy with another 5% under our protection but not our control, so 45% of the Milky Way galaxy." answered Ashley as a long pause filled the Owl as her words hung in the air. "And in the Pegasus Galaxy, that is even harder to know because there was so few space born powers because of the Wraith ruling over that galaxy for so long. While we only have a few worlds there we are basically the only power of note in that galaxy."

"Unless you count those rogue Asgard that are in hiding because of their experiments and the few Wraith warbands which travel either by gate or scout ships. The Genni have no space force outside of the stolen Wraith Darts and Colonel Vipers which we provided to them to defend them against the Wraith, but no warships. So you might as well throw that whole galaxy under Tau'ri control." Added Sheppard as the Citadel members just sat they're in amazement at the size of the space controlled by the Tau'ri. "Ah…I forgot the Travelers, but the are only a step or two away from signing with us and becoming Tau'ri. They really do need a better name now that they aren't a migrant fleet of refugees hiding from the Wraith."

"So how…how big is the Tau'ri navy?" inquired Tali

"Well I can't give you actual numbers but…we never really stopped building after the Colonial War. Our fleet is actually small compared to others but they either inherited or built thousands of Ha'tak class ships." explained Sheppard as he pulled up the image of the Ha'tak class ship which was the backbone of the Gau'old fleet before the free Jaffa and Lucian Alliance nations took them. "700 meters by 800 meters and just over 300 meters tall."

"That is just smaller then dreadnoughts and you said there are a thousand of them?" inquired Tali

"More then a thousand, some of largest the Lucian Alliance nations have 2 or 3 thousand of Ha'tak class ships." explained Ashley which caused the Citadel races eyes to widen. No fleet in their galaxy was that large, on some levels Ash didn't have to tell them that information. It was common knowledge and something people could find out on wikipedia. "Our ships can go up against them with ease but their numbers is why we never actually stopped our ship production. We have the edge in technology, they have numbers and numbers make a huge difference."

It was at that moment that the Owls came in for a landing at one of the many landing spots attached to the command tower. Some of these landings where reinforced roofs above lower floors while others were actually extendable landing areas that could be pulled back inside the building if needed. The Owls touched down and without much of a thought the Tau'ri unbuckle themselves, it wasn't much of an issue for the Asari. The Salarians and Turians had some trouble with the way the buckle was design for a hand with at least 4 fingers and they only had 3 but they got out of their seats and down the ramps. They walked down the ramp only to have the cold hair hit them harder now that they where higher up and night had taken the land more fully.

They delegations walked into the tower and instantly found themselves much warmer which was for the benefit of everyone. For the Citadel members they where still on edge fearing a trap and what they saw didn't help that much, they spotted more guards and aids walking around but a lot of darkened rooms. Then they turned a corner and entered a main hall, which had white stone floors with a silver imprint of the Tau'ri symbol on it and columns along the wall. More aids where there along with guards, however not all these guards where Tau'ri. Some where wearing strange armor with giant metal heads.

"Who are they?" inquired Garrus

"Elite Free Jaffa Guards, hard to tell which nation they are from they are wearing the same Goa'uld armor and now it is picking your own headdress you like the most instead of which false god they followed." Explained Sheppard as one of the snake guards eyes flashed as they passed. "Looks like the free Jaffa have a good number of people here at least."

"Prince Unia is here as well." Added Ashley as they passed by a mantis like alien dressed in what would look to anyone from Earth to be in Italian Renaissance like cloths, including a rapier. There was also two thin lizard like aliens in bio suits which caused even the Tau'ri to pause for a moment to remember who they were, then they remembered who the mostly isolation aliens where. "The Gadmeer I think, they must be here to see if their food can help feed the Turians and Quarians."

There was more then a few angry people moving toward the meeting room, some of them seamed to be dressed for an evening out on the town while others looked like they had just woken up.

"What is there problem?" inquired Tali confused at the angry looks around the room.

"It's pushing 10 at night here." explained Sheppard "A lot of people where likely either sleeping or preparing for bed, they would rather had pushed the meeting off until morning, but President Carter said no."

"Or planning to go out on the town, more to do here then on some whole worlds." added Miranda "Some free Jaffa who doesn't even have electric power back home or Lucian Alliance member who lives on one of their shipyard worlds which are board line uninhabitable because of the pollution they put out from their factories and shipyards. So to them a night on the town with clean air is something a lot of them where looking forward to instead they have to report to a meeting."

When they entered the room, they found most of the people where actually sitting in raised viewing section looking over the main floor. The main floor had a circle table where the main power players would be seated, the other members where there to mostly learn about the Reaper threat and not much more.

"Please have a seat." offered President Carter as she moved to take her seat near the center with of the table with the two generals on either side of her. To the slight confusion of the Citadel council members there where empty chairs once they had taken their seats. That was when Carter turned her eyes toward Legion and Tali. "I understand that neither of your people sent official delegates to this conference but I would request that you both sit and speak unofficially of course for the Geth and Quarian people."

"Those races are not recognized by the Citadel Council and…." Started the Salarian only to get a glare from everyone else at the table aside from the Asari who simply looked forward. Getting the message, he paused for a moment and rethought what he was going to say next. "And while they have no legal power to bind their races forces to the cause, it may be wise to hear from them."

"Nice save." mocked Sheppard to Ashley who fought back a laugh only to get a glare from his own President and his father.

"I understand you are not used to speaking with these races or for that matter the Krogans but we are here to put those differences aside and so we must hear from everyone." Stated President Carter before she looked at all the guards. "You are welcome to keep a guard and an aid up here to help you but please for space reasons would the others head up toward the second row of seats."

"Garrus, Liara will you two stay and help me." whispered Tali before dropping down even lower in volume. "You both have information that may be of great help to these people."

"Now, I know it is late, but time is critical so lets get started." said President Carter "The others can be filled in as they arrive in. First, I welcome you to Valhalla and the Tau'ri Alliance it is my hope that we will be able to come out of this meeting with a plan to fight against the Reaper Threat in your galaxy. While we awaited your arrival those around the table where briefed about the Reaper threat, so we will move right into what we can do to help your people. But first some introductions are in order. I am President Samantha Carter of the Tau'ri and beside me is General Leong head of our military and General Sheppard head of the Military in the Pegasus galaxy."

Both Tau'ri general nodded their heads as they began to go around the room, it was more for the Citadel guests who didn't know everyone around the table. For Sheppard he took more notice of which minor powers had actually been brought up to the big-league table for this event. The 12 colonies of Kobol who were represented here by the head Caprica Quorum member and wife of the sitting President, Mrs. Baltar was at the table mostly because they would be providing food for the refugees. Same went for the Gadmeer member if Turian and Quarins could eat their food, but they where the only race in either galaxy which had the requirements in their food. The rest of the people around the table where the major powers, the 5 big Lucian Alliance nations who tended to fight each other at least once a year, same went for the 7 major free Jaffa nations which two of them where currently at war with each other. Then the Citadel members introduced themselves and that part of the conference was done and the talks could really begin.

 **While the talks where beginning the war was still raging in the Torch Galaxy and the Tau'ri where about to go on the offensive.**

"Mobius One you are clear for takeoff." said a voice over the radio as a black Eagle fighter taxied into position on the launch pad of the TAV Kestral as it sat far outside the range of any sensors that the Reapers could possibly have.

"This is Mobius One, launching." Said the pilot as he his engines kicked into gear as he began to rocket forward out of the port hanger onboard the Yorktown class carrier. His bird wasn't the only one launching two squadrons of Eagle fighters where launching along with a full squadron of Taita fighter bombers and a full wing of Condor heavy bombers. In total 48 Eagles, 24 Taitas and 72 condor bombers where launching from four different carriers all sitting unknown in space away from their targets.

"All flights form up and prepare FTL drives." Said command as the flights formed up, each one of the eagles and the Taitas had short range hyperdrives which gave them range outside of the fleet but only the Condors had enough FTL power to make it to the nearest habitual world if they had to. The rest had to make it back to the carriers if they had any hope of going home. To help make sure no FTL drives where captured by the enemy each ship had a backup self-detention device attached to their drives and computer core. That was on top of the self-destruct protocol that happened 90 seconds after a pilots ejection, it was all design to keep Tau'ri technology out of the hands of enemies.

As one each flight went to hyperspace and the aircraft disappeared from the visual sight of the carrier crews. Now it was somewhat back to olden days of fighting for the men and women onboard the carriers, they watched with sensors as their brothers and sisters in arms headed into danger not unlike what they would have done if they where a water born carrier.

"Time to target 5 minutes." Reported the sensor operator as she watched the dots on her holographic screen move forward. "No enemy movement and they are still bunched up on those two locations, raven flights show we are clear to targets and they will monitor the effects of our attack."

"Glad to hear those spy planes are willing to stick around to do their jobs." said flight operations as the dots moved ever closer to contacts.

"Sensors any other threats on the board?" inquired the Captain.

"No, sir, board is green and all counter detection systems show that we haven't even been detected yet." reported counter intelligence "We should catch them with their pants down."

"They are two-kilometer-tall cuttlefish like ships." stated the Captain "I don't think they wear pants and we don't know what they are capable of, they may have tricks up their sleeves like we do."

"Understood sir, sorry sir." Said counter Intelligence as she looked back down at her screen, a little ashamed of being dressed down like that by the Captain so publicly. Seconds later a pop-up window appeared in the corner of her screen.

"Or they wear very big pants, commander." read the message in the window, she saw the address of the person who sent the message and smiled. It was from her Captain, she had enjoyed the joke but it wasn't the time or the place for it. For the longest time no one spoke at the attack clock counted down to when the first ships would be coming out of hyperspace and begin their attacks.

Mobius One steadied himself as he looked out into the vortex which was hyperspace, he centered himself as he prepared to enter the battle. His flight computer beeped, and he pulled back on the hyperdrive control as his eagle exited hyperspace. Before him was not only the void of space but the remains of the Citadel defense fleet, however most of that was in the process of being stripped for parts. There was also the bulking masses of the Citadel and the Mass effect Relay both of whom where surrounded by Reaper forces.

Their arrival didn't go unnoticed as the Reapers which had been busy rebuilding the super gate turned their attention toward the attacking force of strike crafts. The reapers began to launch their own mini drones which began to rush forward toward the Tau'ri fighters.

"I have target lock." said Mobius One as he tapped his weapon board and selected his 2 of his 4 long range missiles. "Fox 2...Fox 2."

His fighter rocked a bit as both of his missiles launched off the rails, he waited the needed 20 seconds before firing the other two.

With that all four of his long-range missiles flew off the rails leaving him with only two close range missiles, the normal load would have had another four missiles but the long range missiles where physically longer taking more missile racks and the payload wasn't what he normally carried. With his job done he turned his Eagle and headed toward his departure zone. He wasn't alone as his flight did the same firing their long-range missiles which rocketed forward into the rush of oncoming beam fire from the Reaper drones. The missiles had some intelligence which allowed them to take actions to avoid the beams but their was just too many and half of them where destroyed before they reached their assigned targets. Their assigned targets however wasn't the relay or even the Reaper Capital ships moving to engage the Tau'ri strike force, it was a spot in space which had been empty when the missiles where fired but was now full of Reaper fighters.

The blinding flashes of nuclear warheads going off destroyed the swarms of fighters around them clearing the way for the next wave of missiles coming in behind them to penetrate deeper into Reaper lines. The next wave didn't get to the ever-approaching Reapers but destroyed another swarm of fighters. It was the final wave, the largest swarm of missiles which hit their targets with dozens of nuclear blasts. The barriers on the Reapers where designed to hold up against mass accelerated weapons, which is the main weapon of every space born power in this galaxy it wasn't as affected against radiation and heat. It would have stood up fine if the nuclear warheads hadn't been Naquadah enhanced which gave them the needed force to break the barriers to cause massive damage to the two Reaper Capital Ships. Both ships where still repairable but at the moment they where dead in space. With their job done, the Eagles and other Tau'ri aircraft turned and entered back into hyperspace before they could be fired upon by the enemy. The pilots where disappointed believing they had failed but in fact they had done what they where suppose to, make the Reapers think that the Tau'ri where doing everything they could to destroy the Super Gat. Therefor pinning down a whole Reaper fleet that could devastate planets full of people.

 **Back on Valhalla the talks had moved forward at a slow rate for a multitude of reasons, it was getting so bad that Sheppard wanted to walk up to some of the diplomats and slap some reason into them for their stupidity.**

"Why are we even fighting these Reapers?" inquired one of the Lucian Alliance member causing the Citadel members to glare at the fat women dressed in strange armor with multiple rings on each of her fat fingers. "Just evacuate enough of the races of this galaxy to make sure they can maintain their population and let them live here until this cycle of harvest is done. Once done have them rebuild or just let them stay either way it is much better then putting our forces at risk."

"And how many forces will you be sending?" inquired General Leong as she glared at the Lucian Alliance member. "Your nation isn't providing any military force to the fight, you are only helping with food and putting your forces on alert incase the worse happens and the Reapers get hyperdrive technology."

"Which is why we shouldn't provide aid, only an evacuation route." Countered the Lucian Alliance member. "It isn't our problem and it could only become our problem if the Reaper gets hyperdrive technology. Why risk it? Let the Reapers swarm that galaxy why should it be our issue."

"We can't sit by and let trillions of people die." countered Master Bra'tac as the elderly Jaffa sat in his chair. The former first prime sat beside Teal'c and while their free Jaffa nation was far from the strongest, they had the closest ties with the Tau'ri Alliance which gave them power they normally wouldn't have. "The Tau'ri have not ask much of us to aid these people and all they want to do is keep us informed and ask with our aid in providing support to the refugee population."

"One nation can't be expected to support as many refugees and while they do the bulk the fighting they are asking that we provide food." added a different Lucian Alliance member

"The Bulk of the fighting?" countered the Turian Primarch, offended by the idea. He wasn't used to being considered a second level power which is what was happening now. Some of these aliens where treating him like he would treat the Volus or Hanar, as a power yes but one that need not totally concern him or the Turian people. "We will be doing the fighting, we will be fighting for our home and our worlds."

"And how will you do that?" countered Wrex, he was enjoying watching the high and mighty Citadel races be taken down a peg or two. "You want my people aid but you have yet to offer any reason why we shouldn't let you die while we watch."

"You wouldn't dare, you would doom yourself to death by the hands of the Reapers." countered the Salarian Councilman "You would gain nothing."

"Oh…we will gain a lot, we will gain the satisfaction of watching you die and that is more then enough considering the genophage." laughed Wrex

"You don't consider the long-term outlook." countered the Asari council woman. "Your victory would be short lived and…."

"But it would be a victory and we are doomed anyhow because of the genophage so why look long term when we have none thanks to your biological weapon." countered Wrex

"Your species will not die out because of the genophage, we took great care to make sure that the population birthrate caused by the Genophage will only keep your population levels in check not lower it." countered the Salarian as others around the table glared at him, they had been briefed on the genophage and they didn't like it. "It is the fact that you Krogans are so uncivilized that you die in battle that makes it seam like your population is shrinking, if you stopped fighting and…."

"Councilman, we need the Krogans to fight and fighting is in their blood." Countered Garrus as he noticed how everyone from the Milky Way Galaxy was glaring at him, most of all the members of the Jaffa race.

"Then let them fight, if it is in their blood then they should enjoy it." Stated the Salarian

"You may get some Krogans to fight for you but not in the numbers we need we need them in force." Stated the Primark "We need to cure the Genophage only then will they fight for us in mass."

The Salarians and the Asari all looked at him with amazement and horror, even as Wrex grinned at this newfound allie.

"Someone has some sense, yes give us a cure, give the Krogan people a future and we will fight for you on mass." stated Wrex "We will show the Reapers our rage."

"And we have been working on that." Interrupted Carter that news caused the Asari and the Salarian eyes to widen. "Our doctors have been looking over the data we got from our limited information about this genophage and while we would like more tests, we have a working theory on what would likely cure the Genophage. Based off our experiences with the Iratus bug in the Pegasus galaxy and others it is likely that we could cure you right now, the issue would be that we have yet to figure out a way to deploy it on mass to your people, at the moment it is one Krogan at a time and that is not an ideal cure method."

"Well maybe I can help you on that front." laughed Wrex

"A simple mind like you couldn't help anyone, even your most brilliant "minds" aren't worthily of teaching basic school." stated the Salarian councilman

"Actually you are going to help." Countered Wrex as he tapped his omni-tool and a holographic image appeared above his arm. "This is video of a group of Krogan females who were cured of the genophage by a Salarian with some soul only to have them taken by the STG forces. They are being held on the Salarian home world…I am sure they will have aid in your cure?"

"They would for sure." confirmed Carter

"Who told you about them?" inquired the Salarian Councilman as Wrex grinned but before he could say anything, Mordin stepped forward pulling everyone gaze.

"Sir, I informed them." admitted Mordin as the other Salarians in the room eyes narrowed at their fellow Salarian.

"That doesn't matter." Countered the Primarch "If a cure for the Genophage is the price for Krogan aid in this war, it is a price worth paying."

"But we may be trading one problem for another." countered Tevos as the blue Asari looked at the Turian Primarch "They caused the bloodiest war in galactic history, we need to remember that."

"And if you don't pay that price your worlds will burn." added General Leong "Our fleets are mobilizing but we are still days away from deployment to your galaxy and deploying ground forces….we can carry out planetary strikes for sure but the arm and supply massive ground forces in your galaxy would cause my logicist people to kill themselves in frustration. Don't expect columns of our Leopard battle tanks to be coming to your aid any time soon. You will need forces on the ground and from what I have read, the Krogans fits the bill."

"We must release the Krogans females and cure the genophage." stated the Primarch as he looked toward Garrus who stood behind Tali who was sitting for the Quarin people. "As a Spectre Vakarian can go get the Krogan females and bring them back."

"No need to bring them back, I have the data from them and if possible, I can work on a cure and distribution method here while they go retrieve the females." offered Mordin

"Very well." confirmed Carter "Now that we move on to our battle plan, we need to decide how to position the combined fleets of our the races of your galaxy and our fleets once they arrive in your galaxy."

"President Carter, while I am Quarin I can't speak for my people's fleet." announced Tali

"Same with Geth fleet." added Legion "Neither of us can committee the fleets to any action."

"And if you are going to unleash the Krogan threat back onto the galaxy then the Salarian people will carry out our Krogan uprising plans." Added Valern as everyone looked at him, the comments by Tali and Legion had been expected but Valern speaking up wasn't expected.

"The what?" inquired Tevos

"The Salarian Union has prepared a battle plan for the possibility that the Krogans would rise up and become a threat again, it was later modified incase Reapers where real." Explained Valern "The Salarian Union will not be sending ships outside our space, we will instead carry out evacuation of unimportant worlds and bring their population and resources into the heart of our space. If the Krogans or now Reapers do arrive in those systems, we will destroy the Mass Effect Relays and cut our space from the outside galaxy."

There was a long moment when no one said a word, the entire room was as quiet as a tomb.

"You would lock yourself away?" inquired the Primarch not fully believing that they would attempt something that bold.

"In a way, the plan was originally designed to prevent the Krogans from massacring our people if they would somehow became naturally immune to the Genophage and grew in population enough to overthrow the Citadel council." explained Valern "The void would prevent any Krogan ships from arriving in the now isolated Salarian space and the Salarian Union would go on. It was estimated that over the course of three hundred years we would learn to make new relays and that in the same amount of time any Krogan warlords of threat would have destroyed themselves allowing the Salarians to regain the galaxy."

"The Reapers will travel that void and get to you." countered Liara "They traveled from the middle of the void between galaxies, the void you are talking about will only buy you a few years that is all."

"Correct, but in that time, we can pull back again and destroy the relays delaying them even more all the while developing new technology to defend ourselves and either force the Reapers back until they no longer see us as worth their time or we are able to defeat them outright." stated Valern

"We have seen that before it will not work." countered General Sheppard as he spoke up for the first time. "When the Wraith still where a major threat in the Pegasus galaxy, a civilization who hadn't even developed space flight found a way to prevent the Wraith from eating them. They thought the Wraith would leave them alone because they can't be eaten. In the end the Wraith ended up grinding their world into dust. From what I have learned about these Reapers they will not just leave you alone, they will grind you into dust. The only hope for your galaxy is to stand together."

"I agree we must stand together." added Garrus

"We are only modifying your own plan to trap the bulk of the Reapers in Baratian space, nothing more." Countered Valern

"We proposed that plan to keep the Reapers in a reign of space already all but fallen and spare trillions of lives, you are talking about making your own life boat and leaving the rest of the galaxy to die." Countered General Leong before her eyes narrowed even more. "Besides it will only buy you at the most two or three years. You are supposed to be a race of scientists tell me what are the odds of you finding a way to defeat the Reapers in that time frame alone? Now compare that to the odds of finding a way to defeat them by working together as a united galaxy. I believe your best bet is working as a united galaxy."

"Maybe you are right but it is an option that the Salarian Union is preparing to do no mater what." added Valern "If you want the Krogan females…fine we can begin the process of transferring them into your custody, in the meantime the Krogans can start deploying fighters to Palaven."

"No…cure first then we will deploy our warriors to Palaven." counted Wrex "We will not spill our blood only to be backstabbed like what happened after the Rachni wars."

"Backstabbed!" exclaimed Valern as his voice rose in anger. "Backstabbed, we did no…"

"While I don't like it, it seams that we don't have a choice. As a Council Spectre Vakarian can take the custody of the Krogan females at once." offered the Asari as she cut off her counterpart.

"And one of our ships can get you there faster." offered Carter before looking toward Torren in the back of the room. "Major, since you have a good relations with Spectre Vakarian and his team can you take him to the Salarian home world to pick up the cured females and bring them either here or another location."

"Not a problem Madam President." said Torren, in his mind thanking God that he could get off world and away from his stepfather. "We can head back through the gate at once."

"We still have much to discuss about the Reapers and we haven't even touched the Quarians or Geth." countered Valern "Their fleets will be much more useful then the Krogans will possibly be, we should focus on them first."

"You are only trying to delay the salvation of my people." snapped Wrex as he slammed his hand onto the table, causing it to shake.

"Hold your horses." said Carter as all eyes where once again on her. "You are both right, so while it is late we shall push forward and cover everything we can about the Geth, Quarians and any information that Spectre Vakarian and his team can offer. Once done they will leave at once and then we can move into forming our battle plan. Does that work?"

"Fine…" growled Wrex "I will give you 2 hours."

"Agreed." confirmed Carter holding back a sigh, she really wanted some sleep most of the people from the Milky Way Galaxy wanted to get some sleep however every moment they waited costed untold numbers of lives, so they pushed forward.

"We have gotten reports of large Prisoner of War camps behind enemy lines are these people actual prisoners or are they indoctrinated?" inquired General Leong as she looked toward the Primarch "Since your world has been hit the most have any of your commanders raided a camp to find out if the people there are loyal or is it a false front?"

"We haven't been able to get close." admitted the Primarch "We don't know."

"I see." said General Leong "We need to know if the people in those camps are a loss to us or not, Madam President with your permission we have an operative on the Batarian home world I recommend we use him to find out if the people in these camps are POWs or a false front."

"You have an operative on the Batarian home world how?" inquired Tevus "That world is lost already, how could one of your ships be there?"

"Our ships have cloaking technology." Was the short answer given, no long answer was offered.

"Talk me through your plan?" inquired Carter.

 **The smell of dead bodies filled the air like a bad fog, it was enough to cause even Aria who wasn't a stranger to death to gag a bit from the smell. She moved up into what had once been a bedroom for whoever once called this apartment home.** It wasn't a place she would have stayed, too small and the Batarian are not known for their lavish lifestyle, however even she had to admit that from a the balcony which was attached to the bedroom would have a great view of a nearby park, if that park wasn't dominated by a massive labor camp. The door leading out to the balcony was closed and the room was darkened with the only light coming from beams of lights coming in from in between the window shades.

"What brings you here?" inquired Drugo as he sat against one corner of the wall with his rifle leaning against the wall beside him. He wasn't wearing his helmet instead he had a thin tube of some kind in his mouth and some kind of metal object in his hands.

"Seeing what you are doing." stated Aria as Drugo nodded his head before a small flame came out of the metal object as he lit the tip of the object in his mouth. Almost at once the room filled with a strange smell, she couldn't put her fingers on it but she had smelled something like that before somewhere however she quickly got what he was doing. "So the Tau'ri are smokers?"

"Some are." admitted Drugo "Didn't know your species smoked cigarettes."

"Well we call it something else but there is a herb we roll in dry seed weed and smoking it gives the feeling of coming down from a sexual high." explained Aria as Drugo chuckled a bit. "What is so funny."

"In my nation, some people like to enjoy a good smoke after an evening in bed others do it simply to relax." stated Drugo "I personally do it for both or when I am board like I am now."

He pressed a button on his arm as the image of the nearby camp came into view on the screen built into his forearm armor.

"Monitoring a camp, not really what I thought I would be doing when I joined Spetnzas." stated Drugo

"Spetnzas, I thought you were Tau'ri?" inquired Aria as she took the nearby bed lying down and looking up at the ceiling, only to decide it wasn't the best place as the ceiling above the bed was bowing with a bright red spot.

"That is why I didn't pick that spot, don't want to ceiling to fail and find myself covered in blood." laughed Drugo as Aria moved to sit beside him. "Spetnzas are or were the special forces of my home nation of Russia, they have been folded into the Tau'ri military like every other military force but when I joined it was still only Russian soldiers defending mother Russia. Now anyone in Tau'ri space can join if they meet the training requirements which remain extremely high."

"On Thessia there are some city states which still hold their own private military but almost all of them have been folded into a combined command." explained Aria "I severed a few decades as a special forces member myself before striking out to make my own path."

"Decades, I keep forgetting that you Asari can live for a thousand years humans until a generation ago generally live past 80 or 90 years." Stated Drugo with a chuckle. "It's better now, I may live to see 175 or so. My kids if I ever have any may see the 220s the way technology is going but a thousand years? No, I don't think that is possible unless we pull an Asgard."

"Asgard?" inquired Aria, she had two goals in her questioning she needed to know for business reasons and her own curiosity.

"The 3rd or where they the 2nd great race in the Alliance of Races, highly advanced technology. They decided to extend their lives by downloading their minds into new clone bodies." Stated Drugo

"Clever." Stated Aria

"It was but after so many copies defects started to happen and after a while, they where doomed. In the end they couldn't even have sex it was that bad for them, they committed mass suicide at the end." explained Drugo as he flexed his arm. "We aren't going to go down that path, my arm is cloned after losing it in a training accident but limb and organ replacement is about the limit we are going to go."

"No sex?" said Aria "I would kill myself if that happened to me. Living millions of years isn't worth that."

"Agreed." confirmed Drugo "They died, blew up their whole planet but before they went they passed on their technology to us and declared us the 5th race in the alliance of races. A lot of our technology is a mix of their technology and the ancients. We are adding to it, but they speed up our advancement considerably."

The sound of a Reaper caused both of them to stop talking for a moment but a quick look on the holographic view of their camera showed that the Reaper was moving away. Suddenly a flashing light appeared on the sidebar of the holographic display.

"Incoming call." groaned Drugo as he pressed a button. "What is it Tyrion."

He had expected to see the holographic face of the ships AI, he had expected to have to listen to him talk about not flirting with locals. He hadn't expected to see the holographic face of his President.

"Madam President." said Drugo as he noticed that Aria's face was in the frame, so she could see President Carter and President Carter could see her.

"Colonel Drugo…and this must be your local contact Aria T'Loak." Said Carter, her voice was a little broken up but given the fact that she was broadcasting from another galaxy thanks to a stargate.

"Yes." confirmed Drugo

"Good, the Citadel council wants one of their people to see it." stated Carter

"I am not that with them." countered Aria

"But they may believe you more then just our reports and video evidence." Said Carter as she took a breath, her image flickering a bit. "Colonel Drugo your mission is to discover if those imprisoned in the Reaper camps are fully indoctrinated or are they actually prisoners."

"Alright." said Drugo wondering how he was going to do this. "Do you have any methods I should use or…"

"Be creative just prove one way or another if we are dealing with POWs or not." explained Carter

"Alright, Madam President we will think of something." Confirmed Drugo wondering how he was going to find this information out.

 **Torren Sheppard had left the conference room while they talked about methods to possibly get the Quarians and the Geth to work together.** Their story was reminding him too much of the Colonials and the Cylons only instead of coming to a stalemate, the Geth won and the Quarians became a refugee people. Torren was never a history guy and he didn't want to hear about some old war and he wanted to get away from his dad. So he quickly left the room and went to a nearby longue with a view out over the sleeping city.

"Want to get a drink?" inquired Ashley as she walked up to him.

"Most bars would be closing by now." Countered Sheppard as he double checked his watch. "It's almost 1 am and it is a week night."

"Hadn't thought of that, I am still on ship time not planet time." admitted Ashley as the sound of footsteps behind the two of them caused them to turn around to see that the diplomats where breaking up, most heading to their own nearby diplomatic mission buildings or down to the diplomat room suites located in the nearby building. They watched as a Citadel Leaders headed toward their own suites to rest up for the next rounds of talks. While their leaders went off Garrus and his team headed toward where Sheppard and Ashley where standing.

"By the Goddess." said Liara as she looked out over the city lights it was an alien city but the glow of some many lights took her breath away for a moment. She hadn't really had a moment to take in the view.

"If you think this is nice, you need to see Atlantis." added Shepard as he moved to stand beside her. "From the main command tower you see all of the lights reflecting off the surface of the water 360 degrees all around you."

"Sounds like some of our cities on Thessia." added Liara "The ones who took over small islands in bays."

"Altantis isn't in a bay." laughed a new voice as Liara turned around and saw an older man in a Tau'ri uniform walking toward them, it took her a moment to remember his name, General Sheppard. "It's a city ship so it is out in the middle of the ocean, true you can see some of the lights from the mainland on a clear night but for the most part you are on the ocean alone."

"John." Said Torren rather stiffly as the two men looed at each other for a while.

"Torren." replied John back as Liara look back and forth between the two of them. They had the same last name but they didn't look all that much alike and for as far as she knew Sheppard was a common name. She wasn't the only Citadel member wondering the same thing. "How are you doing?"

"Doing ok, how is Mom and Beth?" inquired Torren giving away part of the answer.

"Good, your sister just got accepted to Stanford." Reported John "Your mother is doing good too, really wants to do a family vacation before your sister starts school next fall. She is thinking a camping trip or the like."

"Maybe after this Reaper war." said Torren as he noticed Garrus looking toward him and then back to a very disgruntle looking Krogan named Wrex. "I better get going, I have to go pick up some female Krogans to save a whole race."

"Yes." Said John with some noticeable sadness in his voice, as he reached out and placed his hand on his shoulder. "Well stay safe and come back."

"Will do." confirmed Torren as he headed toward the waiting Owl transport which would take him back to the Stargate and back to the Torch Galaxy. The only member of Garrus's team staying behind along with Dr. Sam O'Neill to work on the cure for the Ghenophage while Wrex was joining them. The Owl was waiting for them on the landing pad, they boarded without a word and the owl lifted off the pad and made a slight turn to head back toward the Stargate. The owl lifted off and roared toward the stargate passing over the same landscape they had flown over hours before only the night had claimed it all.

They landed at the gate only to see that even pushing near 2am that it was a hotbed of activity. Train cars loaded with refugees where leaving the station to head to nearby camps while trucks loaded down with missiles and other supplies headed through the gate to help defeat the Reapers.

"Alright, next opening is in 20 minutes." Said the load master "Sorry you arrived just after we open the gate to bring in more refugees."

"Then stop them and let us through!" grumbled Wrex as he looked down at the loadmaster, for his credit the tiny man didn't go running away. What helped was that there were three nearby Cerberus power armor sets loading supplies and those tiny mechs where larger then even the Krogans.

"Sorry I will not do that, it will cause a panic among the refugees." stated the load master "You will go to the front of the line…in 20 minutes."

"It's alright we will wait." said Liara as she placed her arm between and the Tau'ri loadmaster to make sure Wrex didn't do anything stupid.

"If you want, there is some chow over there." Offered the loadmaster as he pointed over his shoulder toward a long series of tables which was covered with food. There was a line of people going back and forth grabbing some food before either finding a place to sit down to eat or eat as they work. A much longer table was nearby as aid workers handed out hot food to the newly arriving refugees those who could eat Tau'ri food that was.

"I am going to grab some food anyone want any?" inquired Sheppard

"I am good." Said Liara

"Coffee you know how I like it." Ordered Ashley

"With enough sugar in it to kill a person, sure I know Ash." Confirmed Sheppard as he headed toward the table followed by almost everyone else, leaving Ash and Liara alone among the roar of owls taking off and trains moving out.

"I have a question, General Sheppard is he…." Inquired Liara

"Torren's father?" finished Ash as Liara nodded her head. "No, stepfather. He married his mother after his father died in an accident when Torren was five or six years old."

"I see…" started Liara, still wondering what was the issue between the two man where.

"The thing is Torren, needs to get over the fact that his father's death was an accident and it wasn't his step father's fault." added Ash as Liara raised an eyebrow inquiring for more information. "General Sheppard back when he was a Colonel he was deploying a warning satellite over a pre space flight world when an enemy fighter appeared. To save a village full of people General Sheppard shot down the fighter, however the wreckage of the fighter landed on a cavern which Torren's father was in, killing him."

"Oh…" started Liara again.

"Personally, I think Torren has forgiven his step-father for that and is just using it as a reason not to face the real issue between them, he did take his last name when he came of age in his tribe which proves to me at least that he considers him his father." explained Ashley as she went on to voice her theory to Liara, it was a theory shared between her and Sam O'Neill. "I believe most of his anger toward his father is based off living in his shadow. Behind only SG-1, General Sheppard's team SGA-1 are among the greatest heroes in two galaxies, to be the son and step-son of two of the four members of SGA-1 is a lot of pressure to put on a kid growing up. He works for everything given to him but some people will always think he got where he was because of who his parents are. Drives him fucking crazy but that is no reason to hate your parents."

"I know that feeling when it comes to my mother." admitted Liara softly to herself trying not to remember what had happened to her own mother.

"Just don't tell him I told you that, he would be upset and that is the last thing we need right now." Added Ashley as she spotted Sheppard and the others walking back with their own food and her cup of coffee.

"Here, you go Ash." Said Torren as he handed the coffee over to her, that is when she noticed an extra cup in his hand. He turned and offered it to Liara. "Since you're here might as well try some local food, we have Sagittarian Red Tea."

"Thanks." Said Liara as she took the hot tea and carefully took a drink only to smile at the rich blend of flavors. "Very good."

"Sagittarian Red Tea, best export to come from Sagittarian." laughed Sheppard not adding the rest of the Tau'ri joke that the export wasn't hard to beat considering Sagittarion's second export is religious whack jobs.

"The calm before the storm." reported Ash as Torren nodded his head as he leaned back a bit against a shipping container. All around Garrus and his team where doing the same unaware that multiple news crews which had been covering the refugee arrival on Valhalla had turned toward the team of Tau'ri and Citadel Space races who where gathered together as a team.

 **Well after a long delay due to writer's block, working on ideas for two different stories and getting caught up on the Critical Role Podcast which I fell behind on I have finally finished this chapter. Now I hope you enjoyed this chapter and until next time please keep reading. Thanks Wilkins75.**


	17. Chapter 17

**Sorry for the very long delay but it has been crazy, I shall explain the delay so that you all understand why it happened. Basically I was staying at my sisters for a couple of days for work (why get a hotel when I can crash at my sister's place and pocket the hotel money my company gave me). I was in their guest room and one of my nephews acted up and had his Ipad taken away and sent to time out, which takes place in the guest room, normally no toys for the kids to play with. Only this time my stuff was in there including my laptop. He saw my laptop and as you might guess where this is going he thought he would play on it like an Ipad. Only he couldn't get it open and threw it out the door and down the a flight of stairs in frustration. He is only 5 and autistic, so I don't blame him but needless to say my laptop was destroyed. So I had to order a new laptop and this is where I made my own mistake, when I ordered it I failed to notice that it was back ordered so what I thought would be only about a 5 day delay turned into a 2 week delay. Throw in the normal stuff with a new computer, installing programs, getting all the files downloaded and figuring everything out. Plus writing this chapter over again (I hadn't backed it up when my computer was destroyed) and you get a very long wait. Then to top of it storms hit my native state of Ohio knocked out power in the area I live and the internet for days. So now you know why the long delay and with that done,** _ **now**_ **enough of that back to the story.**

 **Chapter 17 The Raid**

Darkness was quickly falling over the destroyed city as still burning fires set remains of the city a hellish light in the darkness. There was no electrical power left aside from those in the labor camp and the reddish glow of the lights on a nearby Reaper and those like it in the distance. Even in this late hour labors where at work in the massive yard which had once been a good majority of the park. The labors inside where busily working the area stripping technology brought to them by Reaper ground soldiers of useful parts which was then sent off into the building.

"I will give them credit sir, this looks like a smooth operation." reported the Tau'ri sniper as he lied on what remained of a desk on the second from top floor of a nearby building overlooking the park. From his perch he had a good view of the camp and yet had good cover, it would have been better to shoot from the roof but drones and the fact that that would be the first place anyone would look for a sniper told him not to go there. "They are rotating shifts and judging from some of the buildings I can safety guess what is living quarters, mess hall and the factory.

"Good." Said Colonel Drugo as he looked around him, he had a strange mix. He had called down the rest of his team from the Josephus Daniel but his team was still mostly made out of Aria's forces. "We are moving."

"Understood sir." Said the sniper as he provided over watch, not that there wasn't much to actually watch at the moment, the Reaper ship which seamed to be doing guard duty was at the far end of the park near the entrees and did a rotation around the road that ran around the edge of the park every 25 minutes. In-between smaller patrols of Reaper ground forces did patrols in a pattern that looked generally random but a quick review by Tyrion had found it was in fact not random but highly organized to limit the amount of time any one area was without guards while committing the least amount of forces. As he had stated it was an efficient use of forces but once the pattern was found it made planning easier.

With that a group of two Tau'ri lead by Drugo along with six of Aria's guards, two Krogans the rest Batarians along with Aria herself. Together they headed down a tunnel in the half-flooded basement of a different building a block away from the camp. The tunnel had not been there an hour ago and was lined with strange rock pattern which caused some Batarians to look at it in confusion. They had been more confused an hour ago when using the first of the Tok'ra tunnel crystals they had on the Josephs Daniels they had started to make the tunnel. They passed under the basement of the next building going deeper then even the sewer or what the Tau'ri would have called the subway network to avoid the guards which would certainly be there. The tunnel went down at a steep decline before heading back up at another equally steep incline before coming to a stop at the base of a massive slab of steel and concrete. Waiting for them were two more Tau'ri increasing their numbers to five Tau'ri soldiers and eight local fighters they waited as one of the Tau'ri took out a small drill and began to slowly cut into the concrete.

He wasn't equipped in the normal gear load out, his helmet had and extra attachment which allowed him to view the world in multiple spectrum such as X-ray and he had spotted his target a control box sealed in the floor. With care the drill moved forward coming to a stop against the metal case of the control box. With that done he pulled out a tiny spider like robot which climbed up the hole and after a small amount of acid was used to burn through the metal casing it attached one of its arms to the control box.

"We have visual sir." reported the technician as a visual from internal cameras popped up on everyone's screen or omni-tool. At once everyone saw the drab grey halls of the internal of the building and the nearly robotic way the Batarians and their former slaves moved around inside it. They may have attempted to hid it on the outside where they could be seen by refugees allowing them to be lured out but not here. In here they acted like machines moving as one and even eating their food in unison.

"Not a good sign sir." reported the technician

"Agreed." confirmed Drugo "But we need more evidence then just some video of life within a prison. We have to try."

"Understood sir." said the technician "Where do you want to breach?"

"Wait, can't we record the video and play it back in a loop so anyone watching would see the recording?" inquired Aria

"Not a bad idea, however we can't do it from here." answered the technician. "This is basically a repeater station, re sending data once it was checked for virus. We can't change the data without sending up so many warming alarms that they would have to be deaf, blind and the most stupid race across multiple galaxies not to know something was up. We can only watch and capture data, that is all."

"Alright, so can you show me where the most people are gathered?" inquired Drugo as the technician did his work and a large sleeping area came up on the display.

"This is the largest but sir, this has sparked my interest." stated the Technician as a he pulled up an image which showed a long line of smaller cells. There being walked in by a half dozen or so Reaper soldiers where two Batarians and a Quarian. Unlike the others they where not moving like machines, looked dirty and warn. The Quarian was likely a slave which had made it this far which spoke highly of the race considering that the Batarian government wouldn't have helped the slaves in any way from escaping from the Reapers.

"New comers?" inquired Drugo

"Likely but they aren't anywhere near the others, this is closer to the where we believe the factory where they are making a new Reaper is." answered the technician.

"Because they are about to be used to make the Reaper." Answered Aria as the Tau'ri looked at her. "Garrus told me, the Reapers make more reapers by turning people into biological goop for the lack of a better term and then using that to construct the main inner workings of the Reaper."

"My God." Said the technician as he reached down and pulled a small six-pointed star necklace out from under his armor. "This is a death camp, sir."

"So it seems." answered Drugo "Can you get us close?"

"With ease." Confirmed the technician as he pulled a crystal from a pack, doubled checked to make sure he had the right one for a moment and then placed it against the wall. Within moments another tunnel began to form as the Tok'ra technology went to work.

"Impressive little tool." stated Aria as she watched the tunnel begin to form as she moved to stand beside Drugo. "Striking from below will give us a good advantage in this strike."

"Truth be told, we are pulling this out of an old playbook." admitted Drugo "We used this crystals to dig a tunnel to assault the Colonial President bunker during the war. We actually failed but that we due to the quicker then expected arrival of Colonial Armor, so we had to pull back before we could be overrun…"

Aria nodded her head in understanding, she was slowly getting a better idea of the Tau'ri but then she noticed at Drugo hadn't really finished his sentence instead he had paused for a moment and pulled out a knife and was looking at it. It wasn't a true combat knife, more of a large quick snap knife something a mugger in Omega would carry not a solider. It also had two strange symbols on the handle, with the words Battlestar Pegasus in the middle. Feeling her eyes on him he put the knife away and looked forward for a moment before checking the time. They were nearing the launch time when suddenly flash traffic appeared on his computer screen.

"Colonel Drugo…" said the AI Tyrion voice over his communication link "The Reapers are moving."

"Hold!" ordered Drugo as everyone stopped what they where doing. "The Reapers are moving, where are they?"

"A group of 18 Capital Ships and 37 smaller warships are heading toward the Relay in the system." Answered Tyrion "They are also escorting 50 smaller troop transports, scans show no Naquadah so they aren't transporting that. It makes up the bulk of their forces and all their remaining capital ships in the system."

"Alright, hold for a second." ordered Drugo as he looked toward Aria "Can ships turn around while traveling through a relay or do they have to wait until they reach the next relay?"

"Their next destination actually, the energy carries you to your location like a bullet it will not drop out until out of energy." answered Aria as Drugo smiled under his helmet.

"Tyrion how long until they reach the relay?" inquired Drugo

"90 Seconds." Answered Tyrion "However 3 of the Capital ships and 6 of the escorts are slowing down, they are appearing to be taking up a blockade formation of the Relay exit point."

"Alright, get into attack position and once they are gone, we will jump the on the ground and you will get them in space." Ordered Drugo "Nuke those ships away from the rest and then come to get us."

"Do I need to remind you that the Reapers have deployed a jammer which is preventing us from getting a beaming lock on their ships. We can't just beam nukes onboard and pull back." Explained Tyrion

"Then nuke the area around them, catch them in the middle of so many shock waves that it destroyed them." ordered Drugo, not even sure if such a thing was possible. He knew that in an explosion a pressure wave could be just as deadly if not more so then the flying metal. Would it work with nuclear weapons in space against ships, he didn't know.

"Could work, at least it would disable them." confirmed Tyrion "It will take 30 seconds for us to get back to you, after we do this and there is a chance we will not be cloaked anymore."

"Our time table is for 6 minutes and we are going to cut and run anyhow after this so, if you aren't cloaked beam everyone onboard and we will run." ordered Drugo

"Yes, sir." said Tyrion as the Josephus Daniels under a perfect cloak headed after it's targets just as the Reaper fleet headed out of the relay. As they did the AI sent out a coded message to command, to keep them informed about the Reaper movement and the upcoming battle.

"Should begin…now." stated Drugo.

 **On the other side of the planet high in orbit was the remains of a Batarian warship which was slowly descending into the atmosphere of the world it had failed to defend**. Onboard among the floating dead bodies of the Batarian crew who had died at their post where 16 items that had been there an hour before. Fifteen of those items where long 2.5-meter-long tubes painted white while the other was a much smaller item, about the size of a dinner plate located on what remained of the ship's own missiles. Within microseconds of each other all the items activated, the fifteen tubes fired small rocket motors sending them flying out of the destroyed ship, seconds after they cleared the ship the other one activated and a small charged exploded the remaining weapons on the ship providing cover for the newly launched missiles.

The sudden explosion of the Batarian warship caught the attention of the few Reaper escort ships who remained in orbit of the conquered planet, however the read out of the explosion was in line with a power core going critical. It was a common enough event among destroyed ships and one which was noted but not acted on by the Reaper. The explosion caused a storm of remains to spread out in space quickly descending toward the planet. This provided cover for the 15 slightly larger objects which had left slightly ahead of the explosion. They entered the atmosphere just ahead of the remains of the ship, as they did their heat shielding protected them once into the atmosphere small canisters of CO2 went off cooling the cinders allowing them to disappear from heat sensors. Once they disappeared small wings extended out from the body of the cinders as they began to guild toward their destination. With no moving parts and no heat source guilders where invisible to all but visual detection, the down side being that they do not adjust fast and that was way long distance was required for these weapons to reach their targets unseen. The onboard computer making small adjustments to the flaps to keep the guild path on target.

The flight of guilders passed over the burnt out remains of Batarian cities, over once active battlefields where the defenders had tried to hold off the Reapers only to fall, they even passed over three other POW camps before they reached their target. That target was about 1 kilometer off the ground directly above the POW camp located in the middle of the park. Once there each cinder went active as the wings dropped away and the rocket engines kicked back to life. Seven of the missiles screeched down toward the backside of the ½ kilometer tall Reaper which had been patrolling. The attack being launched so close to it caught the Reaper off guard as each of the Naquadah tipped missiles strike home, the hardened nose cone designed to punch into underground bunkers went deep inside before exploding ripping seven giant holes into the body of the Reaper as the once quiet night was broken. It let out a loud sound which had to be a scream of some kind as it stumbled backwards, two of its legs blowing off from secondary explosions as it crashed into an abounded apartment building. It's pain was not over as the weakened building gave way under the weight of the Reaper and it collapsed with the Reaper on top of it.

The other eight missiles had different targets four of them smashed into the fence by each of the guard towers destroying them and the fence. While another one hit the main gate blowing that and the two flanking pillboxes away. The remaining three hit at large groupings of Reaper ground forces patrolling the outer wall. Within seconds the wall was down in five different places and the door was wide open for the prisoners inside the fenced area working to make their escape. Within seconds a large amount of gunfire began to fill the air as a building across the road from the main gate as multiple rounds began to come from that location. There where in truth no Tau'ri or even Batarians in the building but instead ten remote control turrets where firing from windows down onto the Reaper forces.

 **In truth no Tau'ri ground force had even opened fire yet, the sniper teams where monitoring the camp and what they saw only caused their hopes to drop.** None of the workers in the camp where attempting to make a break for freedom, instead they where moving calmly toward the factory as if it was the end of a shift.

"Sir, they aren't running." Reported the Sniper team

"Fuck…ok, thanks." said Drugo's voice over the radio as he sat under ground. He paused for a moment and looked at the team which was about to assault the inside of the base. The technician had placed a breaching charge and stepped back, as he did he held up three fingers counting down. When the countdown ended, there was a pause of a micro-second before a deafening explosion shot upward breaching the concrete and making a slopping route into the heart of the compound. There was some rubble on the ground but easily kicked out of the way as the entered the base. It was a supply room, that lead out into a hallway.

"Move." ordered Drugo as they headed down the hallway, as they did one of the Cannibal reaper ground forces moved around the corner, it was dropped by a three-round burst from his rifle as they advanced. The Tau'ri team moved with practice, they were all trained Spetsnaz all of them old guard meaning they had been in Spetsnaz since before the official unification of all the commands. Two more Cannibals came around the corner and where dropped with bursts of fire. When they reached a door, one of their members stepped in and cleared it visually before stepping out. As he did he tossed in an explosive charge with a timer, a going away gift. Within moments they reached a long corridor with multiple tinny doors built into the wall. Using life sign detectors, they moved past the first couple of door before stopping at one.

"Open it." ordered Drugo as one of his team raised his rifle and aimed the shotgun attachment at the door handles. With multiple quick shots the hinges where shot open and then pulling on it with power armor the door came crashing down.

"My God." exclaimed a member of his team as the horror within was shown, it was a small room not even 5 by 5 and was about 10 ft tall. The prisoner was against the far wall and was restrained, at first the Tau'ri made a move to enter the room to save him or her then they saw that she was too far gone. Metal tubes pierced through the Batarians body, similar to the Dragon's teeth but instead of one massive one it was dozens of smaller ones. A strange golden red liquid came out of each of the tubes in a steady drip. It reminded Drugo of one of the Saw horror movies he would watch every Halloween but it was different seeing it in real life. He was even a Spetsnaz and had been trained to deal with torture but this was beyond him, to make matters worse the Batarians was still alive screaming in pain.

"End her!" ordered Aria as one of her guards fired a two round burst killing the woman.

"They will pay for what they have done to my people." promised her Batarians guard

"Alright, you two stay here search these cells for any others, save who you can kill those you can't." ordered Drugo as two of his Tau'ri nodded. "We see if we can save the people in the camp itself."

"You two help." ordered Aria as she moved off with Drugo and two other Tau'ri headed down the hallway searching for anything still alive. While they did that Drugo, Aria and the remaining of the strike team headed down a separate hallway heading toward the living area of the prisoners.

 **Out in space, the attack had yet to be notice by the Reaper force which now formed a blockade of the Mass Effect Relay.** It was clear from their formation that they where meant to stop ships from arriving first not deal with ships coming from within the system. All their weapons and attention was focused on the Relay incase of a sudden attack from that front, they where not ready for an attack from behind. That attack came when 18 nuclear warheads all appeared in a web like formation around the group of ships. Since the Reapers where jamming the beaming of warheads directly onboard their ships, the Tau'ri had to beam the nukes just outside the jamming field. This meant that a single warhead couldn't take out a single ship, however 18 warheads all exploding at the same moment making 18 shock waves all coming toward the Reapers from different directions was more then enough to destroy them. Like a water born ship caught by waves hitting from different directions, the force combined shock waves ripped the ships apart.

"Mission accomplished." reported the weapons officer onboard the Josephus Daniels, not that he had to the Tyrion, the AI who was running the operation already knew it.

"Turning the ship to head back to the planet." reported the Pilot

"Hold." ordered Tyrion as the pilot turned to look at the holographic image of the AI who was standing behind him.

"Sir?" inquired the pilot

"Look at that." ordered Tyrion as he pointed out the window, in truth it wasn't a window just a holographic display what cameras saw on the outside of the ship. Even so it caused the pilot and the weapon officer to stop for a moment and look at the nearby Mass Effect Relay. It had been far enough away to avoid getting damaged by the shock waves however the blue swiveling ball of mass effect energy in the heart of the Relay had disappeared and the rings that held it in place had stopped turning. The whole station had turned black and it was drifting slightly in space.

"What the? I thought these things couldn't be shut down?" inquired the Weapons Officer "Or else why not just shut them down to prevent the Reapers from using them?"

"No idea, I will sent a report to command, now turn us around and head back we need to pick up our people." ordered Tyrion as the ship turned to head back to the planet.

Down on the surface, the Reapers realized that they where under attack but after the missile strike there was a pause when nothing was happening and then out of a dozen of the windows in a highrise multiple tracer rounds began to spot. A few Reaper guards dropped from this attack but not many and that was because there was in fact no aimed fire coming from those windows. Only some found discarded weapons firing remotely from fixed positions, it was all flash designed to focus the Reaper attention on that building. All the while the snipers located in other buildings began their work taking careful aimed fire making sure they followed the old sniper code of one bullet one kill. It was easier for the Tau'ri snipers to do this then the mercury soldiers working for Aria, it wasn't because of the skills of the snipers both sides had skilled snipers it was because of the weapons they used. When a sniper rifle using mass effect fields where used it left a line of light which for a moment gave away the shooters position. It was a kin to a tracer round but because of the technology the Citadel used it couldn't be removed, now the Tau'ri snipers fired naquadah tipped bullets, some of which had explosive charges in them, a gift from the colonial anti-cylon rounds. These rounds left no afterglow and therefor made the sniper harder to find. Throw in an active cloak and well-hidden positions made them deadly on the battlefield. They went to work here, dropping the enemy outside but the enemy was quickly beginning to figure out that they where taking sniper fire from a certain direction and began to seek cover from the fire. Some even began to return fire, this only new the direction of the snipers but it was better than nothing.

A rumble filled the air followed by a crash as one of those smaller reapers only the size of a skyscraper instead of one of the 2-kilometer-tall giants landed on top of the building providing fake fire. Under the weight of the building sized reaper the not very well-made slave housing fell down in a cloud of dust.

"Colonel Drugo, enemy reinforcements have arrived. We are beginning to pull out." reported the Tau'ri sniper as he and the other sniper teamed began to pull out of their position. They all knew what path to take and they did so, some of the teams headed down to the ground level using elevator shafts to fast rope to the ground floor while others used holes blasted between two buildings to make power armor aided jumps between them. Either way the sniper cover over the camp was pulling out even as three more of the Reapers showed up and began to blast the nearby buildings around the camp into dust. Red beams of energy came shooting out of the each of the Reaper ships cutting the buildings down like wheat in a field. With each falling building filled the air with dust.

 **Inside the camp, the sound of the battle now raging outside could be heard and the building even shook from the battle causing some dust to fall on the assault team as they moved down the hallway.** The hallway itself wasn't much to write home about, looked like the standard prison hall concrete painted an off white with pipes on the ceiling. Nothing stood out aside from the doors being painted green which was slightly odd by Tau'ri standards.

"I have large number of contacts directly in front of us." Reported the solider directly behind Drugo as they advanced down the hallway. Directly in front of them the hallway came to a T juncture, given the distance indicted by the life-sign detector the group of people all had to be on the other side of the wall. They moved to the T junction poking their rifles around the corners and allowing the camera mounted on each of their guns to scout the area for them. Once it was clear of any threat, they secured the junction.

"I have a Door." reported a Batarians mercury as he pointed toward a door located to the left which lead into the room where all the life signs where being detector.

"Form up." ordered Drugo as they moved to form a breaching line, the one soldier in the lead bent down and slide a small snake camera into the small gap between the door and the floor. As the commander, Drugo could get a live feed from the snake camera just like he could get video feed from all the cameras within the strike team, he used it now. He pulled the feed up and saw a large amount of mostly Batarians but a handful of Quarins, Turian and Asari all dressed in the same lime green color jump suit. They where moving in perfect formation up to a line where other people dressed in the same color jump suits handed out premade trays with food on it. There doesn't seam to be any talking at all and everyone seamed to be moving as one.

"Mess hall." reported Drugo as he moved his arm to show the small screen located on his forearm to Aria, she and her mercury soldiers saw the image and like the Tau'ri it seemed very unnatural that these prisoners where moving in perfect formation, more like robots then people.

"Are we sure we want to do this?" inquired one of his fellow Tau'ri

"We don't have any choice, we need to see if these people can be saved, just be ready to run." ordered Drugo as the camera was pulled back and the operator of the camera tested the door handle. It was strange, the handle wasn't any different then one that would be seen on Earth maybe a little larger but that's it. He touched it and nodded before looking back.

"Unlocked." said the operator as the Tau'ri strike team and Aria's mercercys prepared. There was a quick countdown and the lead man through open the door as the man behind him, Drugo stepped in and stepped to the side weapon raised, Aria was behind him and moved to the opposite side as more of them came in.

The only reaction was a none reaction as all the workers just kept moving in a single file line to get their food and move toward a series of tables to eat. They even ate their food in unison, they made no move toward them and acted as if they Tau'ri and fighters where not even there.

"Hello?" inquired one of the Batarians fighters as he moved toward one of the prisoners, a fellow Batarians. The moment he touched the prisoner everything changed, all the prisoners stopped moving and as one all turned toward the Tau'ri and Aria's fighters.

"This is some horror move shit, sir." said another one of the Tau'ri as there was a long pause before the prisoner which had been touched by the Batarians fighters grabbed him and began to punch him without mercy. The other nearby prisoners joined in and they began to beat him to death. The other prisoners stepped around their fellow prisoners beating there would be rescuer to death and headed toward the others.

"Open fire!" yelled Drugo as the Tau'ri and Aria soldiers opened fire on the prisoners, however the prisoners didn't seam to notice the rounds as much as it should have been. They just didn't act like normal people and they just ignored the rounds. Arms where sent flying and they would just stand there for a second before moving toward them like it was nothing more then a scratch. Only deadly shots like head shots or overwhelming damage brought them down. One of the Batarians had a shotgun and that was effective but there was just too many of them.

"Fall back." ordered Drugo as they began to fall back the way they came, as they did it was as if there was a never-ending stream of prisoners all of whom where charging them trying to beat them to death. One got close to Drugo only to be sent flying with a battle armored punch, that punch caused him to stop firing for a moment allowing another one to grab his rifle and toss it away. Reacting on instinct he pulled his pistol and empty the heavy 45 caliber rounds into the Asari who ripped his weapon away gut. He didn't have time to reload so he grabbed the only weapon he thought that would give him a chance. From the outside it didn't look like much, a snap baton but running along each side where strips of blue which began to glow, until the entire batons was covered. He hit the nearest one only to have him drop as the powerful electrical shock caused the muscles in their bodies to tighten to the point that movement was impossible for an hour. Originally designed for riot control by occupation forces in the 12 colonies it was a poplar close quarter weapon for special forces.

"Move!" yelled Aria as she went a wave of blue energy straight into the crowd of approaching enemies. That caused them to be forced back but like an unending tide they began to reform and come at them again.

"All forces back to the tunnels now, we are getting out of here!" ordered Drugo as he took that moment to pull a grenade from his belt. He depressed the button on the top as he flicked off the safety handle arming the grenade. He waited a few seconds before tossing it over the heads of the advancing prisoners. It exploded in midair however instead of a ball of fire followed by smoke, instead sickly green flames began to cover the ground engulfing everything. To every single Tau'ri's amazement the prisoners kept walking through the dragon fire grenade, it was nothing short of suicide considering that Dragon fire based off the colonial version of Greek fire. It was hotter than napalm, it melted metal and burned flesh from bone which it was it was doing now.

"Don't let them touch you!" yelled Drugo as the prisoners kept moving though the flames coming out engulfed in flames. It was something out of a horror movie as these walking figures came out of the flames and took a couple steps before falling down into burning remains.

"Keep moving." ordered Aria as they all began to fall back toward the tunnel. They where halfway there when his radio came to life.

"Thank God, get us the hell out of here." Ordered Drugo as all of them disappeared in a flash of light only to reappear onboard the Josephus Daniels. They weren't alone, all the snipers where there and the now very bloody remains of the man who had been beaten to death.

"Tyrion are we cloaked?" inquired Drugo as the AI hologram appeared.

"No, and we have multiple Reapers incoming." stated Tyrion

"Launch nuke on the camp and let's get out of here." ordered Drugo as Tyrion looked at him. "There are no prisoners left to save."

"Understood sir." confirmed the AI as the a nuclear warhead disappeared from the weapons rack on the ship and reappeared above the camp, within seconds the camp and the surrounding area was engulfed in nuclear fire. The remaining buildings which where knocked down and as the light faded only the Reaper ships remained standing and even, they looked slightly damaged. With that done the Tau'ri ship entered hyperspace and left the system behind.

 **I know it is a short chapter, most of all given the long wait but I thought with all the delays I have had better to put it out now and make a longer one next one then have yet another thing go wrong and push it back even more. Now until next time please keep reading. Thanks Wilkins75.**

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	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18 Divisions Within**

The TAV Normandy exited Hyperspace over the Salarian Home world of Sur'kush, it made no attempt to hide itself since this was an allied world. It did however come out between Sur'kush and the tiny moon which orbited the wet jungle world which was the birthplace of the Salarian people.

"EDI report." ordered Sheppard as he stood behind Joker on the bridge, from here he could look out the windows at the planet below. They weren't windows but displays showing real time images from cameras mounted to the front of the ship, having windows would have been a risk to the bridge. They had them in the mess hall so that people could look out and see the universe beyond the ship. Studies carried out by physiologist said windows helped stop people from getting claustrophobic over long journeys in space and the last thing anyone wanted was people to go crazy on a space ship. Still having windows on the bridge would have been too great of risk so repeating displays where used.

"Gravity is slightly less then Earth but aside from the extreme moister it is perfectly fine for humans." reported EDI as the Normandy sensors scanned the planet and the massive number of ships in orbit. Most of the ships where gathered around the relay guarding it however the Normandy had bypassed them totally. "Most of the planet has climate similar to the amazon."

"Amazon?" inquired Liara as she appeared behind Sheppard along with Garrus and Tali.

"A massive rain forest in Brazil on Earth." answered EDI as she pulled up a holographic image and sent it over to the three Citadel races. The thick green trees and multiple plant life did seem to fit their knowledge about Sur'Kush. "Until recently actually the Rain forest was disappearing on Earth however thanks to multiple projects carried out by the government they are recovering very well, and several species have been brought back through DNA samples taken by the Asgard before they died out."

"EDI I think we have other things to focus on." ordered Sheppard as he looked toward Garrus "You ready?"

"I am." answered Garrus as he tapped his omni-tool, it was patched into the ships system, so he broadcast his code down to the planet and got confirmation back. "Alright they confirm the message and are ready for a pickup."

"Alright, let's get going." Stated Sheppard

"Once we pick up the female Krogans what do we do next?" inquired Tali

"Head back to the Krogan home world and hope that your Mordin and Sam can figure out how to spread the cure on mass." Stated Torren Sheppard "Knowing Sam we have nothing to worry about."

"Knowing Mordin, we have nothing to worry about." countered Garrus as the Normandy got a confirmation flight path and began it's decent down into the atmosphere. The thick humid air of Sur'Kush went through the flight engines as they switched from space to in atmosphere mode. The Normandy followed it's assigned path toward a mountain valley covered with thick jungles, these mountains lacked snow top peaks but poking out from the tree cover was buildings. It took them a moment to realize that a lot of what they thought was jungle was actually buildings. The Salarians had built their cities to blend into the nature around it, which meant some of the roofs had trees growing out of the top. There was of course some buildings which were visible, white concrete buildings with landing pads for shuttles but a lot of the buildings where blending into the involvement.

"A lot of people out there." said Joker as he tapped the life sign detector display "I would expect to see this type of reading over a city like Chicago or the like…there millions of people within range right now."

"Sur'Kush is highly populated, one of the most in the entire galaxy." Answered Liara as she double checked the current location. "We are actually in a rural area of the planet, near the major cities the population would be five or six times the amount here."

"Damn." Said Joker as the Normandy made a turn and was greeted by two small escorts crafts, about the size of Owl transports they began flashing yellow and green lights along the wings and body.

"Police escort?" inquired Sheppard, there hadn't been any briefing about that.

"They are Police cars." confirmed Garrus who also seemed unsure about the escorts himself.

"We are a larger ship for their normal landing zone." offered up Tali

"Alright." said Sheppard as he moved and tapped a small button on his armor, then he whispered something in Ancient, when the Tau'ri had given a translation program they hadn't given them a translation for ancient and he used it now. He whispered his message which went unnoticed by Tali, Liara, Joker but it was noticed by Garrus who was looking at him and he was sure EDI knew what he sent because it was over the ship's network. "Playing it safe."

"Alright." Answered Garrus, unaware that down below a third assault team which had been on standby where now loading up in case the Salarians tried anything. It also brought some of the other hidden defenses online and now the weapon officers were also on standby to be ready to help the Normandy to fight its way out. The Normandy's sensors also begin to highlight the "hidden" weapon platforms which were growing in numbers as they got closer to their landing zone. While the Normandy was getting ready for a fight four more police escorts appeared from hidden hangers built into the mountains, those same hangers where also full of fighters and strike aircraft.

"I feel like we are heading into a trap." Stated Sheppard as the Normandy made one last turn and a large building appearing out of a canopy of trees came into view. The escorts broke off as the landing zone came into view.

"Understood ground control, we know it will be tight but don't worry about us." Said Joker to some unheard ground control station as the Normandy slowed as powerful engines fired in reverse bring the ship to a hover just outside the landing zone which had five gun emplacements around the landing zone. With that done the Normandy moved forward until the bulk of the ship was over the landing zone and extended legs touched down, the back set within 5 ft of the edge of the landing zone. The rear main engines actually hung over the side of the landing zone.

"Turning off bubble shield and localizing the shields." reported EDI, every Tau'ri ship of war had at least two levels of shielding, a large bubble shield which surrounded the ship like a bubble or an egg as some people called it and a second level which was tight to the haul of the ship. Some larger ships like Battleships and Carriers had 2 or 3 smaller bubble shields between the outer most one and the haul tight shield but on the Normandy, there was only two layers of shielding. EDI turned off the bubble shield dropping that totally and then localized the haul shielding so that the ship aside from the area around the cargo ramp was still covered with shielding. "Lowering ramp…preparing to take on cargo."

"Well let's get going." Said Sheppard as they headed down toward the cargo bay.

Already the ramp had been lowered to show two fully armed and ready squads of Tau'ri marines along with Garrus's team which included a very upset Krogran.

"This is taking too long." Growled Wrex everyone who was nearby a couple of Salarians where milling around glaring at the Tau'ri. None of them approaching the Normandy but none of them taking any direct actions against the ship.

"Just give them a moment, Wrex." calmed Garrus as he arrived in the bay, "Let me go talk to them."

"Fine." Growled Wrex as Garrus walked off the Normandy followed moments later by Sheppard, the two of them headed toward the nearest gathering of Salarians. Once they saw them coming the Salarians moved forward and met them about halfway.

"Spectre Garrus Vakarian, the cargo you wanted will arrive here in about 10 minutes." explained the Salarian STG leader "There is an issue and only two of the subjects are still alive, we are taking a great deal in transporting them up from the lab. I hope this is understandable to you."

"Very well." confirmed Garrus

"And if I may, you are making a huge mistake the Krograns are the greatest long-term threat to the galaxy." Countered another one of the Salarians only to get glares telling him to shut up that required no translation. "If you cure the Genophage they will wage war on us all in the end."

"I would figure the greatest threat in the galaxy to be the Reapers at the moment." Countered Sheppard

"You, Tau'ri don't know what the Krograns are capable of they are…." Started the Salarian

"And you don't know all the much more horrifying and deadly stuff there is in the wilder universe, I for one would rather deal with the Krogans or the Reapers for that matter then the return of Wraith or the Replicators for that matter." stated Sheppard "Now I understand you have personal history with them, God knows we humans can keep a grudge for a long time but you are all facing the end of civilization in your galaxy. It is work with the Krogans or die, that is your choice."

"Part of me wonder if the deal you are making to save civilization will make a civilization I or anyone who isn't a mindless Krogran will want to be in." stated the Salarian "The cargo will be here in 10 minutes, you can remain on your ship until it arrives."

"Very well." stated Garrus as they turned and headed back toward the Normandy. "They are stalling."

"In other news the sky is blue, and water is wet." stated Sheppard with a resign sigh as he looked around, something wasn't right. "I hope Sam is having better luck then us."

"I am sure she and Mordin are making progress." Said Garrus

 **Galaxies away, Dr. Samantha O'Neill the granddaughter of the Legendary Tau'ri war hero Jack O'Neill wanted to throw the man or Salarian she was working with out the window of the medical lab.** Mordin just wouldn't stop talking, and Sam wasn't the type to talk while she worked. She would normally just put on some quiet music to help her think but Mordin was now singing along to the music she had been listening to. It was driving her crazy he had memorized the songs word for word after listening to it once.

"Ah…this, what did you call it, I missed it last time." stated Mordin as he sang the words.

"It's called Baby by Justin Bieber." answered Sam

"Baby…interesting he does repeat those words multiple times but I do not understand why he would keep talking about younglings that way." stated Mordin as Sam let out a resigned sigh, she didn't even like the song and had only kept this song on her playlist because seeing the male researchers she worked with filch in hatred of the song was enjoyable in its own way. "The song seams to be of a romantic nature is it because they will make babies together?"

"Baby can be a slang term for a love one, often a woman." explained Sam as Mordin bobbed his head.

"I see, that does make more sense." stated Mordin as he picked up a Data pad "I have been thinking if we manage to get DNA code from a cured female we will be able to create a cure however the problem will be spreading the cure. The Genophage has been developed to change at a very fast rate and can spread with ease. Even if we cure it, a new version of the Genophage may be able to reinfected the newly cured Krogans and then we will be back were we started. Also if a cure is not all done at once it is possible that STG could modify the Genophage and reintroduce it with none the wiser, that will have to be a concern, some would consider the Krogans a bigger threat to the galaxy then the Reapers."

"Some people just can't get past old wrongs." Stated Sam "We still have some terrorist cells on Earth fighting for one horrible thing or another, most often they are religious in nature or racial."

"Racial?" inquired Mordin confused "Are you not all Tau'ri?"

"Yes, but some people can't look past the outside appearance of someone and judge people based off the color of their skin or sex." explained Sam "We even have some now who believe that only those born on Earth or of Earth born parents on both sides are true Tau'ri. Stupid Idiots."

"Stupidity is a plague that can never be cured and if affects every species without exception." confirmed Mordin as Sam nodded in agreement.

"We have cured some deadly virus in the past on Earth, small pox for one." Said Sam as she went back to the problem at hand.

"Small Pox?" inquired Mordin

"A deadly virus which killed millions, whole populations of people where whipped out by this little sucker until we found a vaccine and worked to cure the entire world." explained Sam as she remembered how it was done. "I don't think the Krogans have the time or organization to do a mass vaccination campaign and viral-killing medication."

"No, the Krogan government is limited to say the least…our best bet would be an airborne gas, we can spread it from the Shroud and cure the whole planet." stated Mordin "Then all Krogans would have to do is to visit their home world and they would be cured."

"Alright so we just need to find a way to take a cure which could be delivered with five or six rounds of medications and figure out a way to make it a onetime airborne cure." stated Sam before she rolled her eyes. "Shouldn't be hard at all."

" **You are just telling me this now!" yelled Dr. Rush as he slammed a book hard enough on the table in his lab that it actually bounced, he had almost grabbed his computer but even in his rage he knew that throwing around a computer tablet was a bad idea.** They had just managed to decode the Relay operating system enough to get a display of the entire network, including activated and deactivate relay. The deactivate relays where shaded in a dark gun metal gray color while the active relays glowed a light blue on the display. When one of the relays went from light blue to grey it got everyone's attention. Then the report from the Josephus Daniels came in about how they had shut down a relay. "You have a way to shut down the relays and you didn't say anything?"

"Well, it isn't a real shut down." answered the Salarian with him as he looked at the other two Salarians beside him. "It is a safety protocol built into the Relay, if a large burst of radiation…."

"Like a Gama ray burst." interjected the second Salarian

"Yes, like a Gama ray burst is detected within a certain range of a relay it shuts down for safety reasons and goes into a dominate stated until it is reactivated. It is in standby mode." explained the 1st Salarian "There is a startup system which takes a week or so to done correctly which will realignment the relay with the rest of the network."

"A week?" inquired Rush as he looked at the display, the relay which had gone down was already realignment and back online. "more like 90 minutes."

"Well a week if you want it done correctly and safety." countered the Salarian

"It is also safe to assume that since they designed the relay network that the Reapers would have a way to activate the Relay in a faster manner." added another Salarian as he looked at the display.

"How does the reset work?" inquired Rush as an idea came to him.

"Well the computer lines up the relay with the nearest relay and then once that process is done we send multiple test probes through to make sure a ship doesn't end up flying into a star, a planetary body or another of the multiple space born items which can destroy a ship." explained the Salarian as an evil grin crossed Rush face. Even the Salarians with their limited interactions with humans could tell something was up. "What are you thinking?"

"I wonder what would happen if we introduced a virus into the relay the systems to that ships would fly into stars, plants and the like. Increase the power thrown out by the Relay and instead of coming out on the edge of the system you fly right into a star." Stated Rush as he recalled the something similar happened to the Stargate network when a virus mixed up all the addresses. "So we would send Reaper fleets straight into stars never to be seen again."

"A wise move, if it wasn't for the fact that if the Relay network is all connected as this display showing the networks seams to show, if you did that you would destroy all relay travel and cripple the entire galaxy." countered the Salarian as Rush simply grinned and looked back down at his computer and went back to work.

 **The millions still alive on the rescued parts of the Citadel had kept moving in a none stop cycle through the gate.** A system had been set up, the gate would open for it's max amount of time and refugees would go through to Valhalla when it shut down there was about a 5 minute pause to make sure everything was still working before the gate was opened again and war supplies came through from Valhalla to the Torch Galaxy. It was a highly effective system given the task before them and everyone knew it, some better than most.

In a takeover conference room inside the now landed arm of the Citadel the Tau'ri General Peng Xi-Wang wanted to jump across the desk and strike one if not both of the Turian across the table from him. He would also want to strike the two Asari, he would have them but in his mind he saw them as women and he would never strike a women. He was listening to them scream and make demands of him, he was in command of the supply of the Tau'ri forces and the evacuation of the Citadel members. He had the job of telling the Generals and others above him, that their grand plans couldn't be done as they saw in their minds, as such he was as welcomed as a plague rat. Here he had the duty of telling these military commanders from races he knew almost nothing about that they weren't going to get a Tau'ri battlefleet over their words to fight against the Reapers any time soon.

"We need any forces you can send to help us on Palaven, the Reapers have now reached the Biniaca river and once they…." Started the head Turian General who kept going on about how he needed Tau'ri whole fleet at once. It was a complaint he was used to hearing from people within his own command system.

"We simply don't have anything to give you currently, our ships are limited in the field and we can't deploy them in mass to Palaven." stated General Peng Xi-Wang as the Hong Kong born general who rose through the ranks to be the man in charge of the massive underground train network which crisscrossed Earth before being promoted to this mission let out a sigh. When he had taken on this mission, he had expected to deal with supply the Tau'ri mission through a single Stargate which while a challenge wasn't that hard. He had also expected that he would have to carry out some trade deals bringing goods through the gate as a cultural exchange but not supplying a full war through a single gate line. The Tau'ri had pulled it off in the Colonial War in the invasion of Tauron but they were only bringing forces to Tauron through the gate not a two-way street. It also helped that they had everything already preplaced for the movement of forces through the gate, here everything was on the fly and a rush job.

"Do you not care about our people dyeing!" yelled the second Turian as he slammed the table in frustration and anger.

"I care about your people dyeing believe me." reassured General Xi-Wang

"You have dozens of dreadnoughts right over our heads and you can't send any of them to Palaven, that would turn the tide and we would win the battle!" yelled the Turian

"And loss the war." countered Admiral Hackett as he entered the room. "I understand that you are desperate, you want to save your people so do all of us but if we send our forces to Palaven then we will have to stripe them out here and if we do that then this place becomes a temping target for the Reapers. If the gate is destroyed, then we will be unable to bring in the rest of our fleet then the war is as good as lost. Our leaders back home would likely order a general pull out and leave this galaxy to stand alone and then what would happen? You would have won Palaven, maybe but you would have lost an allied, a fleet of ships which frankly outnumber your combined fleet and an evacuation route for your refugees? I am sorry but our ships will be remaining where they are for the most part."

"For the most part?" inquired the Asari who had remained quiet for the most part, Thessia wasn't in as big of trouble as Palaven and the Asari defense forces while slowly being pushed back was making the Reapers pay for each piece of land they took.

"Yes, I may be able to provide some aid to Thessia sooner then expected but I will need your approval and your help." Explained Admiral Hackett

 **Onboard the Josephus Danial's Colonel Drugo had stored his weapons in his personal locker and had just stepped out of the shadow when a knock at his cabin door caused him to look at the door.** He let out a groan as he looked at the shot of vodka he had just poured and went to answer it. He was going to chew whoever had the gall to come up when he was about to get some sleep. He opened the door and stopped before he could even say a word, standing there was not one of his fellow Tau'ri or even Tyrion who while by law was Tau'ri he was a hologram and therefor was slightly different in his eyes, no standing there was Arai. She was leaning against the door frame with the elevator which lead down to the main deck only a few steps behind her.

"We need to talk about what happened down there." stated Arai

"Yes." answered Drugo as he let her in closing the door behind him. She didn't even ask instead she grabbed the glass of vodka which had been sitting on his desk and with one go she drank it down.

"Yes, have it." He added as he rolled his eyes as e poured some more for her and got himself another glass.

"What does this writing say?" inquired Arai as she looked at the writing on the tiny glass, it had a red star on it with a hammer and sickle in it.

"For the Glory of the Soviet Union." answered Drugo "It was my grandfather's and what Russia, my native country used to be called around 50 years ago now."

"50 years not all that long ago." answered Arai

"To you Asari, no but to humans yes." countered Drugo as he sat down on the tiny couch, Arai had taken the seat with the desk, when he sat down she picked up the chair and brought it down to the level with the couch. "I am only in my 40's I wasn't even born when the Soviet Union fell but my instructors in Spetsnaz where, now Russia is basically a region on Earth, a state the Americans would call it. Not that different then Maine or Montana in their system. True thanks to the new technology I will see 150 maybe even 200 if I am luckily, my grandparents were lucky if they saw 60 or 70 but that was the Soviet Union, the west was better off."

Aria didn't really follow much of that and on some level she didn't care.

"My ancestors where luckily to see 600 a few thousand years ago and now we Asari live between 900 and a thousand years. We may even live longer in time; progress keeps going forward." stated Arai "That is if the Reapers don't remove us from the galaxy."

"Or the Tau'ri." stated Drugo as Aria looked at him, he was spinning his small glass around looking down into the liquid.

"We are no saints; we have done things just as horrible as the Reapers. On a different scale of course." Stated Drugo "I fully expect once the report about how the camps are not POW camps but a false front that they will become targets. I wouldn't be surprised if whole planets get thrown into the fire by the time we are done."

"Not much left to throw in the fire on that world if you ask me." stated Arai

"On that world yes." confirmed Drugo "Don't get me wrong, throwing a world into the fire isn't something I am against if it serves a greater goal. Take what we threatened to do with the 12 colonies of Kobol."

"What?" inquired Arai

"The 12 colonies where a group of isolated humans who followed some ancient gods that used to believe on Earth, when we made contact with them, they basically assumed that we as a younger tribe of their people should fall under their control. Throw in that the fact that we colonized a holy world they had left abounded for a few thousand years and you get a war very quickly." Stated Drugo "They tried to carry out a WMD strike on our colony world, they had enough poison gas to kill the whole planet. We stopped them but we countered strike, a single nuclear bomb with the help of an unknown deposit of Naquadah turned a world into a nuclear wasteland with parts of the crust and molten core in orbit."

"Well that probably got them to quite." stated Arai as Drugo shook his head.

"No, took a ground invasion of one of their main worlds, the destruction of their whole navy, 75 million KIA and the threat to destroy their whole civilization to make them surrender." Stated Drugo "We are actually still there as a policing force on two of their 12 worlds, the most diehard religious ones. I must admit they are calming down at least on the other worlds and even on Sagittaron and Gemmon the attacks have dropped to one or so a week. Better than one every 6 hours which it was at first. And we did that in our own galaxy where our people actually care and where the nearby powers could see, imagine what we will do here if we have to."

"What do you mean?" inquired Arai

"You were a soldier you said." Inquired Drugo as Arai nodded her head.

"I spent some time in the special forces, going to one backwater forgotten place after another. A place most people had never heard of and fewer still even cared about." stated Arai as her eyes widened a bit.

"You understand I see." stated Drugo "Here our leaders have free reign, the press and the people back home will not care much what happens here as long not too many Tau'ri die. I wouldn't be surprised if at least on some levels some officers are drawing up plans to carry out a planet size Dresden or Tokyo for that matter only with Dragon Fire to make sure nothing remains."

"What do you mean?" inquired Arai

"Sorry, I forgot you wouldn't know about the firebombing of Dresden or Tokyo in WW2, well the allies powers in the war basically firebombed whole cities near the end of the war." Explained Drugo "The Axis powers deserved it for all the crimes they carried out, but still I wouldn't be surprised if plans are being drawn up to firebomb whole worlds here. Dragonfire can't be put out aside from beaming technology and Salt of all things, given enough time it will burn through anything until nothing remains. Fire a few missiles into the atmosphere's of a planet, release bombs full of the stuff and make a firestorm that would make the whole planet useless…a temping plan for to use on those worlds already in Reaper Control. Well until then bottoms up!"

He lifted his shot of vodka and downed it Arya followed suit and downed her own drink before pouring another round.

"Well my hometown on Thessia has fallen." stated Arai as Drugo raised an eyebrow.

"Any loved ones there?" inquired Drugo as Arai brushed the idea away.

"My parents died in a shuttle accident when I was only a kid, 70 or so been so long I don't remember that much about them, sent to my Aunts after that. I hated my fucking Aunt and her kids." stated Arai taking another drink "Mated with a Krogan and her kids acted like their Krogan mother…I am not scared of getting rough but those two where stupid. I think they still live there but I haven't seen or heard from then in a century and a half. The first Reapers to reach Thessia landed right in their neighborhood. So they are likely dead."

"Sorry for your loss." said Drugo as Arya shrugged her shoulders.

"If they are dead, so what if they are alive good for them…makes me no matter either way." Stated Arai "The Galaxy may be better off if they did die."

"So no family at all?" inquired Drugo

"There are a few I care about, not many and most of them are on Omega." stated Arai "What about you? Wife, girlfriend, children?"

"No, no and none." answered Drugo, he had asked her and she had answered so it was only fair to answer her questions. "I have a sister and three nieces in St. Petersburg other than that none."

"I see." said Arai with a grin as she eyed him and he eyed her, both of them had a feeling where this was going the only question was which of them would make the first move toward the bed. Then Aria decided she didn't want to wait anymore and reached down and with force pulled the Russian into a kiss, as she did she her free hand glowed with biotic energy and with a flick of her hand his pants buckle was undone and sent flying across the room. While she did that, his hands where busy undoing her top the normal way. Then she forced him down on his bed and stood over him.

"To boldly go where no man has gone before." said Drugo with a grin as Aria rolled her eyes a bit as she pulled her top off showing her bra.

"If you think I have never been with a man before you are an fucking idiot." stated Aria

"Never been with a Tau'ri before." countered Drugo as he tapped a button on his night stand and the room lights dimmed and turned a shade of blue.

"True." laughed Aria before a cocky grinned covered her face. "Lets see how your species holds up to my standards."

 **On Valhalla the situation was tense as the sun began to rise, the refugees from the Citadel found themselves on a world they didn't know and in a culture they didn't know or understand.** The roar of a nearby a civilian Condor space liner taking off from a civilian spaceport was a strange and unwelcoming sound to the scared and confused civilians. They could see the C-Sec officers walking among them like they would on patrol in the Citadel but they could see the Tau'ri guards around the outer chain link fence. They saw that the C-sec officers where armed but from their positions in decommission Tau'ri bases which had been built to support the build up for the Colonial war, they could see some of the heavy armor and strike aircraft either kept in storage or being repaired nearby. They could look up to see the black outline of Tau'ri warships and heavy transports lifting off from nearby Celin and they knew who held all the cards in their current situation. The mood was tense, both sides feeling the other out, for the Tau'ri they didn't know how to tell the difference between male and female Salarians, the Elcor and the Hanar just planed confused them and the Krogans well there was a reason why some of the Tau'ri where wearing their power armor instead of more relaxed BDUs.

"Put your faith in the Enkindlers." said a Hanar as it preached to anyone walking by "The Enkindlers are our only route to salivation."

"Excuses me." said a women as she walked up to the Hanar

"Yes, what can this one help you with? Do you wish to learn more about the Enkindlers?" inquired the Hanar

"No…not really but could you please move?" inquired the women as the Hanar's bio illuminated skin flashed in a fast pattern that anyone who had run into the Hanar before would be able to know at once was a sign of anger but for the women, she thought it nothing but strange.

"This one, will not move, this one needs to share the word of the Enkindlers in these dark times." Said the Hanar as he turned toward the Tau'ri who wore a blue color pants with a white shirt with a red cross on the upper left corner.

"Ya, leave him alone!" yelled a Turian as others raised their voices in anger at this attempt to move the preaching Hanar. It wasn't that any of them cared about his words, it was just he was one of their own and this Tau'ri wasn't.

"I meant no offense; I am only asking him to move for a few minutes we have some food trucks coming in and we need to use the gate behind him to bring in the trucks." explained the woman as she pointed to the nearby swinging gate, as if on que ten trucks came up loaded with supplies. "It's the nearest gate to the mess hall and we need to use it to bring in more food."

The Citadel members all looked at each other, noticing really for the first time the gate which was located behind the Hanar and they had all taken their fill of the Tau'ri food, those who could eat it that was. The request was reasonable and needed, even the Hanar who had preaching had taken a liking to something called tuna.

"Alright, this one will move so that others can enjoy their meals." said the Hanar as he moved away and the gate was opened allowing the trucks to come in to deliver more food to the every growing refugee camp.

From above the camp was a strange mix of tents and permitted buildings, the buildings where old hangers, weapon lockers, offices and living quarters for the men and women who had once called this base home while they trained to invade the 12 colonies of Kobol. With the war over the military, mostly the army had been downside and/or redeployed to other worlds leaving Valhalla with many large military bases that could be used now. Some camps had been set up for only Quarins and Turians, because of their diet needs a need that the Tau'ri where having trouble dealing with since only one race in the three galaxies they had explored had and if luck would have it the Turians and Quarins hated the taste of that food. Would it keep them alive and feed yes, but it tasted like metal and plastic to them.

The mood in the camps was tense on all fronts, to help them the Tau'ri had set up movie theaters and the like but with no real cultural context it was hard for an Asari or a Krogan to find them entertaining, however some Tau'ri solider had shown a video of MMA fighting to a Krogan and a theater had been set up to show a few matches only for it to be ripped apart as the Krogans began to attempt some of the moves they saw the Tau'ri did and improving on it. With the Tau'ri failing on that front it was the Citadel members themselves who began to find ways to entertaining themselves. A few bands which had been playing in night clubs and dance halls had brought their instruments and began to put on concerts for the refugees.

"What are they doing?" inquired a Marine as he watched an Asari play a string instrument which looked like a cross between a trumpet and a cello. They where outside one of the food tents and so many people where gathering for their breakfast and enjoying the music.

"No idea…good beat." said the female aid worker beside him as they listened to the music being played by this lone performer. A crowd was gathering and within a few minutes a Salarian arrived and took out a horn instrument which looked like a ram's horn only with holes in it like a flute. The Asari stopped as the Salarian played a song, only to have the Asari play a different song while the Salarian waited for her to finish. The two traded back and forth, the songs getting more complex. "They are dueling?"

"What?" inquired the Marine "The two performers are trying to out do each other in a duel we do it in practice sometimes…hold on I will be right back…"

It took the better part of fifteen minutes and by then the crowd had grown and a Turian with what looked like a guitar but sounded very different, a Quarian with a keyboard thing and a Krogan with a huge horn the size of a tuba but held like a French horn had entered the duel but the aid worker returned with a case in her hand. The marine saw it and rolled his eyes.

"Why do you have that?" inquired the marine

"I was going to go to go practice before I was called here, I had it in my car." answered the worker as she pushed for and moved up to the performers. She waited until the Asari had finished her song and then stepped forward into the little clearing where the performers where dueling. When she did the performers looked at her. "May I join?"

The Citadel races all looked at each other before the 1st Asari spoke up.

"Why not, it's your world after all." answered the Asari

"Thank you." Said the aid worker as she stepped forward and raised her violin and began to play one of her favorite songs, Roundtable Rival by Lindsey Stirling. The Citadel members didn't know how to react to the song, it did fit the style the others where going for and some even began to nod their heads to the beat of this strange instrument. Some of the aid workers and guards who where on break or keeping an eye on the crowd soon both refugees and aid workers was watching this musical duel between six different races be carried out. When she was done she stepped back as the Salarian played a song and the duel kept going without missing a beat. Tau'ri stood beside Citadel races all of them enjoying the music even if they didn't know all the songs.

 **Back on Sur'Kush the ten minutes was nearing it's end and yet nothing had happened as Sheppard waited near the ramp leading up into the Normandy, Garrus and his team where also waiting but getting upset just like the Tau'ri.** The one who was moving back and forth like an angry bull in heat was Wrex, he keep staring toward the large elevator nearby which lead into the base.

"What is taking them so long?" inquired Ashley

"The Salarians aren't happy about this and so they are likely delaying a bit out of spit." Answered Liara

"I know I would." answered Nyreen as the female Turian sat on the edge of the ramp cleaning her rifle as she eyed Wrex. "I would cure the genophage for your help, that makes logical sense, but it doesn't mean I have to like it."

"Likely some pencil pusher is making sure all the i's are doted and the t's are crossed." Answered Miranda as she looked over her data pad.

"Maybe." Said Sheppard as suddenly multiple glowing blue lights turned on within the cargo bay of the Normandy, this caused everyone to get on edge. The Tau'ri knew what was going on the others didn't but it soon became clear as the blue outline of a pair of Salarians near a computer terminal appeared.

"Drop your weapons!" yelled multiple Tau'ri marines as the Salarians looked around in stunned amazement at all the weapons pointed at them. Before they could do anything Wrex slammed into them grabbing both of them by the neck and slamming them into the wall. When they hit the wall their cloak disengaged as they become fully visible.

"Well…well a pair of STG spies." Laughed Wrex as the Salarian's fought against the grip of Wrex's grip. "What where you trying to do?"

"Gain access to our hyperdrive set up it seems." answered Miranda as she looked at the computer, they had gotten as far as the homepage and had attempted to do a search, sadly they had searched for Faster then Light travel or FTL and had only gotten a Wikipedia page on Colonial FTL drives which didn't even had a picture. "Sadly, they didn't realize we call our system a hyperdrive not FTL, also did you really think we didn't have ways to detect cloaked figures?"

"Your systems will be key to helping the Salarian Union defeat the Reapers, we need the drive technology." stated one of the spies through a gasping voice.

"Are the females even here?" ordered Wrex as his hands tightened around their throats.

"One…only one still alive." Answered one of the Salarians

"Sheppard!" yelled Ashley as Sheppard turned toward the landing pad to see the Salarians which had been standing around, now had their weapons raised and the gun emplacements where activating as well aiming at the Normandy.

"Son of a bitch!" cursed Sheppard as Wrex turned to see the Salarians aiming weapons at him and with a grin tossed the two Salarians out the door letting them fall to the ground.

"Now we do things my way." Laughed Wrex as he pulled his shotgun and ran out of the bay.

"Fuck!" cursed Ashley as she looked at Sheppard who was taking a moment to process what to do, the last thing the Tau'ri needed was a war with the Salarians but they had tried to steal Tau'ri technology, before he could say anymore the Salarians opened fire on Wrex and with their gun emplacements on the Normandy, putting any questions aside. Sheppard looked toward Garrus and nodded, even as the rounds from the Salarian turrets bounced off the Normandy's shield.

"Our orders are to get the female Krogan and cure the Genophage and that is what we will do." Ordered Garrus. "Tali, Liara with me."

"Ashley, Jack with me." ordered Sheppard as they headed out as well rifles raised all the while cursing at what they now had to do.

 **Well I hope you liked this chapter and the interactions between multiple different characters sharing their own point of view about the war. If I have any Game of Thrones fans reading, I am currently working on a Game of Thrones fanfiction and hope to have the 1st chapter of that up in a week or two. Now until next time please keep reading. Thanks Wilkins75.**


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19 Threats and Promises**

The Salarian STG members operation the mass accelerated guns hadn't expected to fire on the Tau'ri ship. They knew that it was a possibility, but it was a remote possibility, the two STG members who were going to board the ship where the best STG members on the planet, both of them had actually broken into the Turian Military high command on the moon of Menae. Since Menae was a totally military moon with no one but Turian military allowed on the moon and the all secret military hardware on the moon it was harder to break into then the actual Turian high command building on Palaven. The mission before them should have been among the easiest they have ever done, advance under the most advance cloaking field that the STG had, get to a computer terminal and carry out a general search for Tau'ri FTL technology, once found gather the intelligence and then refine the search based upon the data they found. Gaining access to Tau'ri FTL technology would have been worth the tradeoff of the Krogan females, with that technology it would open whole new fields to the Salarian Union and they could strike the Reapers and Krogans with ease. It would make the Salarian Union the most powerful civilization in this galaxy. They had done it before only twenty years ago, the SGT had stolen the latest Turian turret design and added it to stolen fast moving servos taken from an Asari cooperation before finally mating it to Batarian round design to make a deadly weapon that was better, faster and more deadly than anything the other powers had. The Union had introduced it all first and then turned around and accused the other powers of stealing "their" technology. This method had been done all the back to before the Union was even formed and multiple Salarian powers fought for control over their home world. It was an easy mission, nothing should have gone wrong and then the two Salarian STG members where thrown off the Tau'ri ship, a second later a large Krogan male stepped off and blasted the two STG members with his shotgun. The shotgun the Krogan's used was among the strongest personal weapon in the galaxy and while it's range was limited and it was heavy it was more then enough to blow through the armor of STG members opening up a hole the size of a fist through both Salarian's chest.

The STG members on the ground level who had a better view of the cargo bay of the Normandy had already started moving before the ones operating the turrets, still they reacted fast and opened fire on the Normandy, at the same moment they began jamming communications. They knew of the Tau'ri shields, but they had assumed that the shields would have dropped when the ramp was lowered to allow the female Krogan in, they were wrong. The rounds slammed into a barrier about a foot off the haul without slamming into the armor. Then out of depressions within the same haul came the Normandy's own guns, it happened much faster than it should of. The guns of the Normandy leveled on the gun emplacements of the Salarian and with a burst of golden fire destroyed the ones in front of them killing the crews operating the guns. The guns of the Normandy swung into a new firing position and opened up on the hidden gun emplacements before they could open fire. Still there where a lot of gun emplacements and within seconds Salarian rounds began to slam into the Normandy's shield. It soon became clear that while the Salarian guns packed a larger punch they had a slower rate of fire then the Normandy's less powerful guns. All this was already known by the STG high command, they had studied the video of the Tau'ri battle at the Citadel with the Reapers and knew how fast their rail guns fired and they had taken that into considering when laying their trap. They had more then enough hidden guns to overwhelm the Normandy if it should come to that. The thing they didn't count on was that the Tau'ri sensors had already located all their hidden guns and the faster moving faster firing turrets of the Normandy began to knock them out before they could open fire.

While the Normandy was spitting out golden railgun rounds into the "hidden" gun emplacements on the landing pad a firefight was underway as Sheppard and his team fought along side Garrus and his team along with a very upset Krogan. It had become clear that Wrex was the main threat as far as the Salarians where concerned and they focused on ending him by focusing their fire on him. All this did was make it easier for the fire from Garrus' team and Sheppard team. The slower firing naquadah tipped rounds from the Tau'ri SIR-15 rifles and the faster firing rounds from Garrus's team quickly brought down the salarians around the landing pad.

"What a fucking mess." Stated Jack as she raised her rifle and scanned the upper landing waiting for someone to pop their head up and shot them from above. Instead the Salarians up there where more focused on the rain of death coming from the Normandy.

"Your telling me." stated Garrus "I have worked with STG for years, I have friends within their ranks and I would trust them with my life."

"And they fucking betrayed the orders of the council." countered Wrex as he moved toward the large set of doors by the far wall. "If the Salarians are as smart as they claim to be the females are actually here, they would have to give us something after they stole the Tau'ri technology. We need to get them."

"Well we already basically declared war on the Salarian Union." stated Sheppard as the Normandy kept firing knocking out AA gun after AA gun and shooting down fighters.

"How long can your barriers hold up against that?" inquired Tali as she looked at the multiple rounds slamming into the Normandy from all different sides.

"A while, at least and they are shields not barriers they are designed to take that kind of punishment." Answered Ash as they neared the large doors.

"EDI we will need the location of the Krogan females." Ordered Sheppard

"Understood, I am already in the Salarian computer system." answered EDI as Tali began to work on the door controls.

"If she is in, can you give us door control?" inquired Ash

"No, the system is rather impressive I can't give you control of the doors but I can stop them from using the doors." stated EDI "Prevent them from having free movement within their base."

"Do it." ordered Sheppard

 **Inside the base multiple STG teams where moving through the base at a run as they moved to combat positions.** Not all of them knew of the plan to take the Tau'ri technology they only knew that they were under attack by the Tau'ri.

"Move!" yelled a team leader as he and a dozen other Salarians in full tactical load outran toward a group of four others all gathered around a single door. "Get out of our way."

"The door will not open." reported the member by the door.

"Get out of the way, I'll use my command code." stated the tactical team leader only to stop when he saw the code promo. Instead of typing in a series of codes which would open the door instead the terminal flashing. He typed in his command code and instead of the door opening music began to play out of the wall mounted speakers normally used in emergency.

"What the?" inquired the Salarian commander as the music kept playing as the Salarians looked at each other.

 **Outside over the sound of battle the Ashley, Torren and Jack all shared a look between each other as they heard the music being played within the base.**

"Really? Is she really doing that?" inquired Ash

"I don't fucking believe it." groaned Jack as Sheppard laughed a bit.

"What is going on? What is that music?" inquired Garrus

"EDI is Rick Rolling an entire Salarian Base." laughed Sheppard shaking his head even as Tali worked on the door.

"That is correct, I have located the single living female Krogan on sub level 6, can't get a good lock for a beam out with the amount of shielding they have. If you place a beacon I will be able to get her out but I can't get her now without a 40% chance of death." stated EDI "They are attempting over ride my new door code prompt but I am a step ahead of them I will change the code with new data to keep them off."

"I got it." answered Tali as the doors opened a bit and the team entered the base as music changed to something which was possibly even worse. There was a second inner door which Tali began to work on even as the outer doors closed.

"My God…Nyan cat…what are we 12?" stated Jack as she rolled her eyes.

"If it drives the Salarians crazy and make our job easier I don't care." stated Sheppard as the door opened and they entered the base. When they entered, they found a half dozen Salarians attempting to work on the door controls, they had though their own technician had opened the door and started to move out. Only to come face to face with Wrex and a shotgun barrel, with a blast he blew the head Salarian's head off while burst fire from Jack's rifle dropped two more as the Naquadah tipped rounds ripped apart their barrels before tearing into their flesh. The other three Salarians wisely raised their hands to surrender and luckily before Wrex could blast them again with a blast from his shotgun Garrus stopped him.

"You are fools you know that." said Garrus

"Why are you attacking us?" inquired the technician

"You boarded my ship and attempted to steal information." countered Sheppard as he pulled his pistol, from the outside it looked like a standard M2030 pistol which in part looked like a more modernized M1911 pistol which is was. Unknown to everyone beside his two fellow Tau'ri the pistol was loaded with stun rounds; they could see this plan as day since the bottom of the pistol handle had a line of red light indicting the gun was loaded with training/stun rounds.

"Well that really all that surprising." admitted the other Salarians "How did you figure that out…."

"Nice try." Said Jack as she turned her rifle toward the end of the hallway and shot into what looked to be empty space only to have her rounds impact two cloaked Salarians. With their cloak down they were dropped with a burst of fire from everyone else while Torren kept his pistol on the other Salarians. The fight was over within moments and Jack turned back to them. "Get us talking while your cloaked buddies try to get us from a different angle, not a bad idea but your cloaks are really bad compared to what we are used to so no Sheppard will you please shut these idiots up?"

"No don't!" yelled Liara only to see red bolts of energy shot out from the pistol instead of bullets. The rounds one each hit the Salarians sending them back against the wall before slumping down. "What?"

"Stun rounds" answered Sheppard showing Liara and Garrus the red glow around the pistol grip. "I wasn't going to kill them, if they are anything like humans then will be out for a good half an hour."

"Do you have more stun rounds? I would rather not kill people who could be helpful later on?" inquired Garrus

"I only carry stun rounds for my pistol, it is kind of left up to the person if they want to carry stuns rounds unless ordered to." explained Sheppard as he did a quick mental check. "I have three ten round magazines not including the seven rounds I still have in his magazine."

"I don't carry any I want them to stay down." explained Jack

"I have about the same, only I do carry one stun round magazine for my rifle." explained Ash

"We are wasting time let's move." ordered Wrex as he stomped down the hallway toward the distant elevator checking the hallway where the two cloaked Salarians had been.

 **Down in the Salarian command bunker the constant singing of the song was driving everyone insane and the song which was bad enough had changed to a poorly drawn image of a creature with a rainbow of colors coming behind it as it moved across the holographic display.** This stupid video was messing up all his command and control, he couldn't open any doors to move his forces around and there was now whole corridors which had no defenders. He had five strike teams stuck in the armor because the armory door had closed behind them and another five unarmed beside their pistols because they couldn't get to the armory.

"We are working on getting the doors open sir." reported a technician as the stupid image disappeared for a moment only to be replaced by the image of a creature or maybe a person in a creature with a pinkish purple skin and green belly.

"I love…you…you love me." sung the creature to a bunch of sitting Tau'ri in a playground.

"You don't seem to be making much progress." Stated the Commander

"Sir, every time I get close to getting pass the block a new one is added and I am forced to start over." explained the technician

"Tell me our jammers are still working?" inquired the commander

"Yes, sir, only the doors seem to be effective." stated another STG member "All weapon still in operation are still firing and we are jamming all broadcasts."

"Good, then we need to bring down the Normandy." stated the Commander as he wondered what happened, it should have been a clean mission and now it was a total mess. "We can fake a crash or the like, we just need to bring that ship down so we can get the technology."

"Understood." ordered the STG member as they kept jamming every type of communications short of smoke singles that they could. The only problem was that the Tau'ri communication system worked on subspace which was something unknown to the Salarians and therefor communication between the Normandy and the Tau'ri fleet around Omega was never broken and within seconds of battle joining an alert had gone to the fleet followed moments later by a more detailed message giving information about what was happening.

 **The Tau'ri fleet was currently on night shift so junior officers where handling most of the duties, still knowing how big of a crap storm this was going to be they sent a message to Admiral Hackett who in turn sent a detailed message to Valhalla through the gate.** The message was handed to President Carter in the middle of a morning conference with the Citadel races. She had been listening to the Turian Primark discuss about using Tau'ri Akula class stealth ship to deliver supplies behind the Reaper lines, something Carter was behind when an aid walked up with a computer tablet and handed it to her. She looked away and scanned the header before starting to speed read the report.

"President Carter is something wrong?" inquired the Asari Council Woman, Tevos.

"You could say that." said Carter as she turned her attention to where Councilman Valern and the other Salarian representatives. "Councilman Valern would you like to explain to me, why your forces attempted to steal information from the Normandy and why they are currently shooting at our ship?"

The entire meeting room fell silent even Valern's eyes widened as everyone turned to look at the Salarian delegation.

"What?" inquired Valern confused at the news as with a flick of the hand, the holographic image of the battle that the Turian was planning disappeared and the images coming from the multiple cameras built into the Normandy and even the armor of the marines on the ground came up. Because of the massive distance there was a delay but it was only a few minutes.

"Our forces are currently trading shots and here is the video of your people attempting to break into our computer systems." said Carter as she played the video of the STG members appearing by one of the Normandy's computers. "

"Valern are you a fool or an idiot!" yelled the Primark as he slammed his fist into the table and glared at the fellow council member. "The Council ruled that we would hand over the Krogan females and you attempt to steal from those helping us?"

"I have no idea what your talking about, I sent the orders to get the Krogan females ready and while I disapproved I saw it was the only way." Stated Councilman Valern "Besides our emergency plan to destroy the relays would work just as well against the Krogans as we believe it will against the Reapers, it is after all what it was designed to do."

"Madam President, he nor any other Salarians or council members races sent any message through the gate with any directives to carry out attacks on our people." Stated General Leong as she sat beside her president. "We have been monitoring their communications through the gate and none of that has been sent."

"Wait, you have been monitoring our communications back to our governments?" inquired Councilwoman Tevos with anger in her voice.

"Yes." confirmed General Leong "We can't risk some information getting out, just like we have also monitored what you have searched on the public computer networks we gave you access to."

"To be fair, we would have done the same, we would have placed listening devices in the rooms as well. We did scans of our rooms for them and found none." admitted Valern, as General Leong nodded her head. In truth Tau'ri intelligence hadn't placed any listening devices within the rooms the diplomatic core would have thrown a fit and President Carter had told them no bugging the rooms. "So you must know I nor anyone of our team had anything to do with this attack."

"So who would have the power to overrule an order from you and carry out something like this?" inquired Carter

"Only Dalatrass Linron, head of the Salarian Union." explained Valern "She is the only one who could order this beside myself."

"Contact her, before more lives are lost because of this foolishness." ordered Carter as Valern stood up to leave.

"No, you can make call here and now." ordered General Leong "We can patch you through the same link we are using to reach the Normandy and you will do this in front of us or we will have to take this to a new level, a level you will not like on bit."

 **Sheppard and his team moved down the hallway the sound of Llams with Hates playing over the speakers as EDI kept switching the music/audio clip being played each time that the Salarians attempted to open the doors.** They had cleared out the first level of the base, at least cleared enough for them to reach the elevator which would take them down to the

"Give me a few moments and I can get into the elevator operating." said Tali as she began to hack into the door controls. Garrus and Liara took up defensive positions to protect Tali while Wrex was moving back and forth waiting for a fight.

"Sheppard." said Ash as she pointed to a sign above a door beside the elevator. It took only a few seconds for the translation program on his helmet to get the words.

"Stairs." read Sheppard

"If these Salarians have anything like a fire code then those stairs likely go all the way down to the level we need." advised Ashley

'Yes, of course your right." said Liara as she headed toward the door. "Aside from some emergency barriers the stairs should be clear for us."

"Alright then!" yelled Wrex as he charged full force into the door, with a massive groan the door gave way crashing into a stairwell that wouldn't have looked out of place anywhere in Tau'ri space. "Lets go!"

'I just got the elevator." complained Tali

"Send it down anyway make them think we are on it." ordered Garrus as Tali typed in the commands and the elevator started down even as they descended down the stairwell toward sub-level 6 where the Krogan female was located according to EDI. The stairwell had multiple barriers which would stop them from moving down however a quick override from EDI disabled them and left the staircase barrier free for them. That was actually a very easy hack for EDI to do, since as part of the fire alarm system those barriers where suppose to let people though while keeping fire behind it.

 **Monitoring the whole situation from a nearby location was the head of the Salarian Union Dalatrass Linron, she was not pleased by what was being displayed to her in real time.** The Normandy was firing it's rail guns dropping her fighters and taking down her own AA guns. Five cruisers and a dreadnought were already moving away from their position guarding the Relay to take up positions to take on the Normandy.

"Combat forces down to 68%." Reported an operator "Southern AA gun field has been completely destroyed, Northern AA field down to 75%."

"The Normandy hasn't cloaked or attempted to run." stated another operator "Strange our assumption was that it would drop its shield to cloak to attempt to get away."

"That is when we would have them but they haven't done so." added the first operator, as far as they knew when a ship was cloaked the cloaked replaced the shield meaning that the ship would take the full force of each hit. They didn't know that the Normandy could keep its shields up while cloaked however since so many rounds where hitting the shield it was pointless to activate the cloak, the power could be better used elsewhere.

"Dalatrass, we have a message coming in for you." said the communication officer as the Dalatrass turned and looked at him.

"From whom?" inquired the Dalatrass annoyed by this interruption.

"From Councilman Valern." answered the communication officer as the Dalatrass looked at him in amazement. "It's being broadcasted by the Normandy itself."

"Isn't Valern in the Tau'ri home galaxy?" inquired one of the operators

"I thought we had all their communications blocked?" added another operator

"Clearly we don't have them blocked." Stated Dalatrass as she turned toward the communications officer. "Put him through."

There was a pause as a holographic image of Valern appeared.

"Madam Dalatrass." Said Valern as there was a slightly delay. "The Tau'ri know what you are attempting and so do all the other races, this grab for their FTL technology has failed."

"So you say, how do I know this isn't just some holographic trick by the Tau'ri." said Dalatrass as Valern lowered his head and activated his Omni-tool he typed in a few commands and sent his highest level access code through to the Dalatrass. She looked at the code for a few moments before looking back at the holographic image of the distant member of her government.

"The likelihood of it being you just went up but I am not canceling this operation, we need the technology onboard the Normandy." stated Dalatrass "We need it to save our union and our galaxy, we can't trust the Tau'ri with this technology on their own. They have every reason to cut and run leaving us to die at the hands of the Reapers and then there is their willingness to work with the Krogans. What reasons do they have to fight the Reapers?"

"We are the 5th Race and that more than gives us a reason to fight against the Reapers." Came a new voice as the image of a Tau'ri women appeared. "I am President Samantha Carter of the Tau'ri and we have more than a good enough reasons to fight against the Reapers and if you don't stop shooting at our ship and people now we will have more than a good enough reason to fight against you as well."

"What reason do you Tau'ri have to fight against the Reapers, at the moment your forces are all staying in one spot and not aiding anyone beyond a raid or here or there." countered Dalatrass

"We are going to honor the treaty of the great races, the Reapers have enslaved the 4th race the Furlings for thousands of years on the Citadel we are going to rescue them and pay the Reapers back for what they did to one of the greatest races ever to grace the universe." stated Carter "Also there is the fact that trillions of lives are on the line, do you think we would run away from a threat like that?"

"If you are so concerned about the Reapers then share your FTL technology with us, give us all a chance to fight alongside you as equals." countered Dalatrass

"Your one to talk, your plan is to run away and hide behind destroyed relays besides we already looked into your ship designs." stated Carter "Your ships aren't designed to take the stress of hyperspace flight and to equipped them with shields capable of standing the stress would take months to put into place. It would require a new ship designs for your races, rethinking everything from the ground up and in the middle of war like the one we are in now by the time your ships would be able to take to space your worlds would already have fallen. Besides you don't know how to refine Naquadah into what you need for a hyperdrive so what is the point of trying to take our technology."

"Then provide us with the ships." Countered Delatrass

"We can't send ships through the gate we have and when our supergate is activated we have 3 fleets standing by to head through to engage the Reapers." Stated Carter "The 7th, 12th and 15th Fleets are already in position, that is almost 60 dreadnought size ships as you would call them plus their supporting ships."

That caused everyone's eyes to widen, it was somewhat of a lie about half of those "dreadnoughts" where carriers while the rest where battleships.

"We are even rushing our new flagship the O'Neill through space trails to be ready for this fight, that is a 5-kilometer ship which is more than capable of taking on anything the Reapers can throw at it." stated Carter before her voice became a cold as a winter storm. "So stand down now or once we are done with the Reapers those ships will be paying a visit to your worlds."

Dalatrass paused for a moment and looked at the display which showed the status of the battle, her forces where down to almost 50% now and the Normandy still had no outside signs of damaged. She knew that the Normandy had to have taken some damaged they had been firing too many rounds for it not to have taken any damaged but she also knew that the Normandy hadn't unleashed any nuclear weapons yet.

"Stand down." ordered the Dalatrass "Stand down now."

 **Since the Dalatrass was communicating on the Normandy's own system they knew the order which had just been given as Joker let out a breath.**

"Thank God." said Joker as he looked at the damage done to his ship, minor fires on five decks, the outer bubble shield had failed and the inner shield was down to 35%. It was only a matter of time until the shield was gone and the ship took real damage.

"That was close." confirmed EDI as rounds still hit against the shield but they slowly came to a stop as the orders where sent out and reached every Salarian on the battle network.

Down on the planet Sheppard and Garrus's team had just reached their target only to stop outside the door.

"I got…shit 36 signatures on my life sign detector." stated Ashley

"That is what 35 targets if one of them is the Krogan female." stated Jack

"No matter we will take them down, save the female and save my people!" yelled Wrex as Garrus let out a groan.

"The walls are not soundproof." stated Garrus "There is no way they don't know we are here now."

"Well let's get going…" started Sheppard only to raise his hand. "Stop, don't move."

"What?" inquired Garrus

"Flash traffic from the Normandy, someone called the Dalatrass is ordering them to stand down." explained Sheppard

"Thank the Goddess." said Liara

"EDI can you put me on their network?" inquired Garrus

"With ease." confirmed EDI "You're on."

"This is Spectre Vakarian of the Citadel Council your Dalatrass has just ordered you to stand down, do not fire." ordered Garrus as Tali went to work on the door. She got it and paused for a moment before Garrus gave her a nodded with that done the door opened. They waited but no shots came instead three Salarians dressed in battle armor stood in the middle of a lab area. Multiple tables where over turned and behind them where dozens of other Salarians all standing up from cover with weapons down but still in their hands.

"We still need the female." Growled Wrex as they entered the room, everyone was on edge as Garrus and Torren's team moved into the room weapons at the ready.

"We haven't gotten orders for you to take her." Stated the head Salarian as Sheppard reached the female krogan who was in containment room, her entire body beside her head was restrained and unable to move.

"Open it." ordered Sheppard

"I will not." stated the nearest Salarian, he looked to be a Doctor of some kind he lacked the armor and he was only armed with a pistol.

"Wasn't talking to you." stated Sheppard as Tali went to work.

"Even if you open that door there is no way you can unlock her restraints without our access code before we get word if are to allow you to take her." Stated the Salarian as the Tali opened the door with a hiss.

"Who are you?" inquired the female Krogan

"Major Torren Sheppard, Tau'ri Marine force and this is Garrus Vakarian of the Citadel Council and Unrount Wrex." Introduced Sheppard as he pulled a small device from his belt and put it on the item right below the Krogan female. "What is your name."

"Bakara." answered the female

"Well this is going to feel a little weird." said Sheppard "EDI do you have a lock?"

"With the beacon aid, I have a lock beaming out in 3…2…1." Said EDI as Bakara disappeared in a flash of light followed seconds later by the rest of the strike team. They all reappeared in the Normandy's cargo hold which had some damage done to it by all the fighting but was overall fine.

"Alright Joker get us out of here and head into hyperspace as soon as possible." ordered Sheppard as the Normandy headed off world, the moment the ship cleared the atmosphere it opened a hyperspace window between the approaching Salarians warships.

"We are in the clear Sheppard, ETA to Tuchanka is five and a half hours." stated EDI

"Alright." said Sheppard as EDI and Tali went to work on getting Bakara out of the medical containment device.

"I need a drink after all of this." Said Garrus

"I will not disagree." Said Sheppard "Officially we can't have a bar onboard do to regulations but…."

"Those Regulations are often brushed aside?" inquired Garrus as Sheppard and every other Tau'ri nodded their heads. "So where is the bar?"

"Follow me." stated Jack as she headed up toward the mess hall.

"I need to go make sure the ship is ok first and then I will join you." Said Sheppard as he headed toward the bridge. It didn't take him long to get a full break down of the battle and to get an estimate time on repairs, overall the ship was in good shape their was minor damage which would take some time but none of it really threatened the ship. With that done, he headed to the galley to find Garrus's team drinking along with his own team. He got himself a beer from the unofficial stock and sat down beside Ashley and across from Garrus, Liara and Tali.

"I am sorry about the Salarians." apologized Liara "I wouldn't have expected them to try that during a time of war."

"They didn't get away with it that is the important thing." said Sheppard

"On some levels, I actually wonder if we shouldn't share our technology." admitted Ashely as she drew looked from Liara and the others.

"It is your technology; you have every right to keep it." countered Tali

"On some levels it isn't even our technology." admitted Miranda as she entered the conversation. "Almost everything we have is based of either Asgard or Ancient technology, true we have modified it and improved it in some way. The hyperdrive is based of ancient designs, the weapons are also ancient or Asgard, we are just good at using technology we get from other races in ways they never did."

"I think my father told me a story about how Ancient Rome conquered an area and then took their technology to improve their themselves, their shields you know the ones which where massive in size and their short swords where from two separate tiny kingdoms they put them together and that is how we got the famous roman legion which ended up forming one of the largest empires ever on Earth." Explained Ashley "In time they advanced on their own after they figured everything out, hopefully we do the same thing."

"All our technology is based on Prothean technology and seams like the Reapers wanted it that way." added Liara as she shook her head. "I have studied Protheans for decades and I never actually noticed how much our technology is all based off their technologies."

"Makes us easier to conquer for the Reapers, they know what technology they will face and therefor how to counter them." stated Tali "Which is why having you Tau'ri with your technology based on Naquadah not Element Zero will be key if we stand a chance of winning against them."

"Well once the gate is done we will be able to bring in our forces and really start pushing the Reapers back." Stated Miranda as she did some quick math. "They should be about a quarter of the way done if not more."

"If I may inquire, I have looked over some of the cultural information about the Tau'ri and I don't follow, you aren't all human?" inquired Liara

"For the most part, I would say 90% of the population of Tau'ri space are humans but we have had a few free Jaffa worlds join us." Explained Miranda "From the outside, most of all if they were born after the fall of the Goa'uld then they would appear human, only real differences are they have a longer life but they have to take Tretonin to stay alive."

"Or have a snake in their belly, but no one wants that." added Ash as Miranda nodded her head.

"Snake?" inquired Tali

"There was a race called the Goa'uld, they look somewhat like Earth snakes only they would attach themselves to another intelligent race spinal cord and take over their body." Explained Miranda "They are a paracite and once had a vast army of slaves and slave soldiers which are what the Jaffa are. About what 40 years now, a massive uprising of Jaffa with aid from us defeated them and liberated the galaxy from them."

"If they could form a united government then they would be the main power in the galaxy." Stated Sheppard "I think even their smallest nations as at least 20 ships which you would call Dreadnoughts and the larger nations have fleets in the hundreds."

"But their ships are primitive compared to ours." Laughed Miranda "Most free Jaffa can't even do anything above simple math and sign their names, the sad legacy of a slave education where their masters didn't want them to know anything more then that. They don't know how their ships work, all they know is how to build the same thing over and over again."

"I must admit I have been looking over your culture Liara and I have to ask how is a world without man?" laughed Ashley "Sounds like heaven considering how stupid they can be sometimes."

"I could make a commet about a world full of women and all the drama but I like to keep my head attached to my shoulders." Laughed Torren as Ashley playfully elbowed him and he did the same in return.

"No but serious I did find some of you stuff interesting that special dance that looks like a ballet only you add Biotics to it was breathtaking and all the colors I had only seen blue biotic energy before." Explained Ashley, it was the color comment that allowed Liara to figure out what Ashley was talking about since she had no idea what a ballet was.

"Vashin'an dancers and performers use special chemical on their skin to turn the biotics different colors." Explained Liara

"If I may ask a question of Tali, how come you Quarrians don't just use hard suits?" inquired Torren as he looked at Tali in basically a space suit.

"Well we Quarrians have a very weak immune system and unless we are on our home world or world terraformed to fit our needs we would likely die from infections." Explained Tali

"I understand that but why not use shielding instead of a suit." Inquired Torren as everyone who wasn't Tau'ri looked at him confused.

"Are you talking about the ancient personal shielding?" inquired Miranda

"Yes, my stepdad shot Uncle McKay when they first found it on Atlantis." explained Sheppard with a laugh, it was one of his father's favorite stories.

"I don't think they have that technology Sheppard." said Jack as she downed a shot of whiskey. "Not everyone grew up on Atlantis and are used to all this technology took me a moment to figure out what you are talking about."

"It's a shield device which formed a personal shield around a persons skin, it scrubs everything going in. A person can breathe, pick up objects but can't drink or eat anything." Explained Miranda "We would use it on the battlefield but it is a mess, if you activate the shield while holding a weapon, when you fire that weapon the projectile be it energy based or bullets all it's power slams into the shield which is wrapped around the weapon as well and is blown back at you with deadly force. Add on the power drain that would happen to it in a battle and you wouldn't be able to use it long in battle, making it impractical in most cases."

"But I could wear one and walk around without my suit and I would be fine?" inquired Tali

"In a sense, I wouldn't try it without medical checks first but it has been used by search and rescue teams and survey teams going into area which would kill because of radiation and chemical." explained Miranda "It should work as far as I know."

"It requires the ATA gene." countered Torren "I don't believe Tali would have that, or anyone who wasn't born with the gene or had the gene theory done to them."

"Ah…that's right, forgot about that." admitted Miranda "Maybe if we tie it to a computer core, I can look into it if you want."

"Please do, to be able to walk around to touch someone without my suit would be wonderful." Admitted Tali

"Well you would still be wearing a suit basically; it would be a shield but I get your point." Said Miranda.

The room was darkened but not pitch black as Aria sat up in bed, she scanned her eyes around the cabin which she now found herself in. The low blue light given off by lights along the edge of the floor and the ceiling gave her enough light to find her underwear, she had just slipped on her pants when she heard the Tau'ri man behind her sit up.

"Morning." said Aria is Russian which Drugo had taught her a little of.

"Morning." answered Drugo back in Aria's native Asari tongue "I hope I lived up to your standards."

"Well." said Aria as she played with him a little, he wasn't the best she ever had but he was certainly in the top five and some of those looking back weren't physically all that good but held high emotional value. Her first time in bed with an equally inexperienced Asari her own age held so much sentimental value that she held that higher than she actually should, either way Drugo was among the best she ever had. "There is always room for improvement."

"Well your biotics make things very interesting." admitted Drugo with a grin.

"You have some moves, I have actually never seen or experienced before." admitted Aria with her own grin neither one of them wanting to give a full smile and they both knew it.

"I dated a Yoga instructor, let's just say she knew a lot about the Kama Sutra." explained Drugo as Aria raised an eyebrow. "It's an ancient sexual book from the Indian subcontinent."

"I see, maybe I'll pick up a copy." said Aria as Drugo tapped on the nightstand raising the lights. He paused for a moment before tapping another flashing light on the stand.

"Colonel Drugo." Said Tyrion's voice as both Aria and Drugo looked at each other wondering if the ships AI had been watching what they did. "Going off the length that you and Miss Aria have been in your room, I can assume what has happened. I may not be able to monitor the rooms visually and audibly but I can tell how long someone stays in a room and when someone turns up the lights like you did."

"Your point Tyrion, you have flash traffic for me or not?" inquired Drugo

"Yes, three hours ago the Normandy went to pick up female Krogans from the Salarian home world to cure the Genophage." said Tyrion "They took fire from the Salarians after they attempted to steal technology we are ordered to take safe guards to prevent our technology from falling into other races hands."

"Salarians STG stealing technically why am I not surprised." stated Aria as she adjusted her bra.

"Well they got nothing." stated Tyrion

"How is the war going?" inquired Aria

"The Turian on Palaven have been pushed back another 100 Kilometers and the Asari defense forces on Thessia are falling back as well." reported Tyrion "We are moving to aid them."

"How are we doing that?" inquired Drugo

 **The Asari planet of Noriran was a backwater world, it was at the end of multiple relay jumps and had almost no natural resources of note.** It was only well known for two things, first a religious sect of Asari who believed in going back to a simpler way of life settled on the planet and a that those religious Asari exported a famous type of cheese which was highly prized among the rich and powerful of the galaxy. It was a backwater with only a few thousands of people almost all of them Asari with a handful of Salarians studying a set of volcanos on the southernmost land mass. Even here they had learned of the Reaper threat and this had caused much concern among the local government, they had a few fighters designed to protect the people from pirates nothing more. They had no defense against any attack of any real size, some of the people mostly the younger ones pushed to go to a nearby planet to sign up to defend their race and civilizations. Others debated if they shouldn't hide in one of the many long dormant volcanic tunnels and wait out the Reaper threat. The debate was still raging in the town square of the only town on the planet when the roar of engines filled the air.

The people looked up to see dozens of shapes shooting down out of the sky, passing over the city and heading toward a nearby farmland located just outside the city. Moments later larger ships came out of the sky.

"Why aren't we launching our fighters!" yelled the mayor to the head of the ten-member strong defense force.

"Did you see the size of those ships!" yelled the defense force leader pointing at the now five dreadnought size ships floating over a distant farming area. It was too far for them to see what they were doing but it didn't take much for them to image unloading an army of those husks which would come swarming over the hill like a plague of insects. "We need to keep those fighters for close air support, get everyone we can armed and ready for a fight!"

The mayor said nothing more and went about rushing around forming unites of defenders as simple farmers took up hunting rifles and used animal drawn carts to form barriers on the streets to stop any attack. Hours seamed to past and yet no attack formed, the massive ships actually took off back into space leaving the town folks scared out of their mind.

"Why aren't they coming?" inquired multiple people as they maned their defensive positions waiting for an attack.

"We need to send someone out there to find out what is going on." Said the defense leader as he gathered a few brave farmers who knew the land that the Reapers had landed on. They headed out on one of the few actually none animal powered cars. The journey was seemly normal until they climbed over a small rise to see a dark green vehicle sitting in the road, standing around it was several figures all dressed in strange armor. They didn't look like husks or other monsters they had seen on the media broadcasts. The figures around the vehicle noticed them and walked toward them, their weapons lowered even as the farmers shook at the sight of these heavy armed figures.

"About time you people showed up!" yelled one of them "We have been waiting for you, that Asari commander said we shouldn't scare you by riding down into your town."

"Who are you?" inquired one of the farmers as she raised her rifle, the figures all shared a look of confusion among each other.

"We are Tau'ri soldiers of the 101st airborne division, that Asari commander sent a warning ahead about us coming." Said the Tau'ri soldier "We are setting up a base here to strike at Reapers at Thessia."

"What?" inquired the Farmers

"Let us show you." said the soldier as they got into the vehicle "Follow us."

With some fear they followed the fighting vehicle down the road until they reached what had been a large stretch of grazing land. The area was a mess of activity as Tau'ri and a few Asari special forces moved stuff around. Multiple figures were unloading metal objects from a truck locking it together to form a road which ran down the middle of the area. This confused the farmers until they saw a strange fighter rolling across a finished part of the strip. A whole military base was rising up of the ground, buildings where going up and chain fences where surrounding the base.

"I don't understand." said one of the farmers as she got off the truck and looked around at the business around her. "We are too far away from Thessia to be helpful in any way."

"Not for our hyperdrives, from here we can launch fighters and carry out strike missions to support your forces on Thessia and we have other plans which are coming in shortly." Said one of the Tau'ri as he looked toward where a line of different looking aircraft.

 **Well I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, as I announced last chapter I have now started a Game of Thrones story so if I have any Game of Thrones fans I welcome you to read my other story as well. Until next time, thanks Wilkins75.**


	20. Chapter 20

**Before the Chapter started, I rightfully owe you an apology for the unforgivable long wait, a mixture of a few things caused this delay. 1** **st** **was and largest of all was writers block, I knew what I wanted to do but not how to get it down in a way I liked, I think I rewrote parts of this chapter so many times I lost count. 2** **nd** **was that I took a long vacation which ate up a lot of early September and lastly was I started a new story. Now I know some may hold that against be starting a new story while this was one wasn't finished but truth be told I am not writing that one fully on my own. My girlfriend is a huge game of Thrones fan as am I and when I told her of this fanfiction idea she loved helping me write it. Normally she would relax reading a book or watching TV while I wrote Fanfiction but she has taken an active role in the Game of Thrones story and so that story has been getting a lot of attention even as I tried to figure out how this one will get to where I want it to go, however now I believe I have found that path now enjoy.**

 **Thanks Wilkins75**

 **Chapter 20 Counterattack**

Death and destruction was not the normal on Thessia, the jewel of the Galaxy it had been called, the most cultured and civilized planet in the Galaxy. It was rich in element zero, the native race the Asari were all-natural biotics, they had life spans in the thousands of years, they had been the first to Reach the Citadel and where founding members of the Citadel Council. They were not the strongest military that honor belonged to their Turion allies but they had the largest economy and the most worlds settled under their rule. That world, a world of oceans, beautiful wet rainforests and towering cities which sparkled in the sun was now burning. Above the planet the Thessia defense fleet while not broken was bent to the point of breaking, hundreds of ships where nothing but wrecks, they had taken some Reapers with them but the bulk of the ships lost belonged to the defenders. On the ground the Reapers had landed and began to spread out across the landscape killing or turning anyone, they came across into their soldiers. Power was out across the planet, people were starting to go hungry, order was breaking down and the Asari civilization was hanging on by a thread.

"Hurry up with that barrier!" yelled an Asari commando leader as she ordered her women to use their biotic powers to lift a barrier into position. At the moment they were not taking any fire but that could change at any moment and they needed to prepare their position to defend themselves.

"Commander, the Reapers are moving again!" yelled her sniper from a small lookout tower. From her spot she could see the 2-Kilometer-tall Reaper advance on the trapped forces within the Calina Pocket. The Calina Pocket held over two million soldiers and civilians trapped on all sides by advancing Reaper forces. Once they fell and they would fall, the Reapers would be able to turn a large percentage of the newly captured populous against the still free Asari. It would also be a major blow to public moral and that wasn't even taking into account the Reapers would be able to send the forces currently attacking Calina Pocket against the remaining defenders of Thessia. Every attempt to break through to them or for them to break out had failed and the end result being the Reapers controlling more ground and two Asari forces an even greater distance apart.

"Damn, we need to get to them somehow!" cursed the commander as she watched the Reaper fire it's beams into a skyscraper nocking it down, even as multiple biotic artillery barrages and mass accelerated rounds slammed into the barriers of the advancing Reaper. The forces there had been cut off and so far all attempts to break through to them had failed even though the gap between the two Asari forces where only a five kilometers wide. The Reapers had glassed the area with their beam weapons, making it totally flat and smooth with no way to get across without becoming an instant target for the massive Reaper ship. They were trapped almost two million soldiers and civilians were trapped like animals and with each passing day the had less and less ways to keep up the fight.

"Commander emergency orders from command, we are to fire a biotic barrage and then prepare to advance." Yelled the communication officer

"Are they insane, we can't advance without vehicles of some kind and…." Grumbled the commander

"Vehicles are incoming, we are going to pick us up and we are to join in the assault." explained the communication officer.

"Where are they getting these vehicles? They have to be civilian vehicles, that would be suicide." Complained the commander, she knew any assault vehicle where being used to their west where the Reapers where pushing forward to attempt to reach the trapped people in Calina. There the gap was smallest and gave the best chance to cross but it was also where the Reapers had the bulk of their forces. There were no forces as far as she was aware left to be used to attack on this front.

She didn't get a chance to argue any more as the ground below her feet rocked and shook in a way she hadn't felt before. It wasn't the pound of a Reaper foot as it moved across the landscape instead it was a rocking like a ground quake. Then she heard it again and again, in quick session. Followed moments later by lots of screeching which had to be rocket fire but wasn't the sound of a type 8 launcher that they used, and it was coming from behind her. Had the Reapers outflanked them, where they now surrounded like the poor souls in Calina. Then she saw hundreds of small explosions hitting the side of the Reaper ship, it was striking the side of the ship and had seemed to catch the Reaper by surprised as moments later multiple Rockets slammed into the Reaper causing it stumble to the side as it attempted to turn to face the new threat. She didn't feel the ground shake this time, but she saw that as a matching barrage of fire and rockets slammed into the backside of the Reaper from the South. The Reaper must have transferred its barrier power to the front to take on the threat and had little left to protect the rear from another attack.

"By the Goddess." exclaimed the Commander as the Reaper took the blow stumbling forward but remaining standing. Then fire began to fall on it from both sides, and to her amazement some of it was plunging fire as it came in from directly above the Reaper. It made no sense, the only way to get plunging fire now was having a ship in orbit and there were no ships on this side of the planet as far as she knew.

 **The ground commander was unaware as all Asari commando commanders where unaware that above their heads battle had been joined as a single Tau'ri battleship with a pair Hetto class pocket battleships and a pair each of Daedalus class cruiser and Galahad class destroyers had exited hyperspace on the dark side of Thessia's small moon before powering around it and hitting the Reapers in the rear**. The seven ships had flew around the moon and this brought the main ancient beam weapon of the Battleship Shiva to positions. Onboard the Shiva managing the battle dressed in the Dark green of a Tau'ri Army General was General Raj-Singh, the elder General had once been in command of Valhalla when the Colonial Navy carried out the nuclear attack. He would always remember that day and how so many blamed him for that failure. He had almost been stripped of his rank and expelled from the Indian Army, only the late General O'Neill had saved him from that fate. Instead he had lost his command of Valhalla which was the among the highest ranks in the Military but though aid from General O'Neill he had landed in command of the Battleship Shiva.

"Are we in range?" inquired General Raj-Singh to the young Lt. Admiral who was in command of this ship and the other ships in the task force. Besides the Shiva, where two of the newer Hetto class pocket battleships, they were basically a larger more advance version of the Colonial Battlestar which mixed carrier and battleship in an amazing well-balanced design, so much so that the Tau'ri had basically stolen the design. The other four ships in the task force where two Galahad class destroyers which would be focusing on ground fire/anti-fighter suppression and the other two where Daedalus class battlecruisers

"Yes, General." Stated the Admiral

"Good, open fire on ground positions with rail guns and focus on the ships with our beam weapons." stated General Raj-Singh. The Battleship moved to a position over the battlefield, the sudden attack of the Tau'ri over space which was as far as the Reaper's concerned was there had forced them back. Once in orbit of the planet all along the side of the TAV Shiva large turrets turned toward the surface.

To the normal viewer the giant guns didn't look much different than the guns on World War Two battleships, tri barrel turreted guns. Only the Shiva had a lot more then three or four sets of these weapons and it wasn't even its main weapon and instead of shells it fired railguns. The massive guns began to carry out an orbit strike against the Reaper forces on the ground, the massive rounds heading toward the surface with golden tracers which burned even brighter in the atmosphere. Small caliber rounds where being fired by the two Hetto class ships even as the battleship and Hetto class pocket battleship kept their beam weapons focused on space born threats heading toward them.

"Sir, the Asari defense fleet is moving to attack." announced the sensor's operator as the Asari defense fleet which had been driven from this side of their home world and the area around the Mass Effect Relay began to a massive counterattack on the Reapers. The Reapers had started to move some of their ships to take on the Tau'ri strike force, weakening the battle line giving the Asari a fighting chance.

The Reapers responded by splitting their forces, the capital dreadnought size reapers moved to take on the small Tau'ri force behind their lines while leaving the smaller ships to take on the larger force of Asari warships and fighters.

"Reapers will be within range in 90 seconds." Reported a weapon officer as the ancient beam cannon onboard the Shiva charged and at max range it sent a beam of energy out which smashed into the nearest Reaper. The Reaper's barriers flickered but the ship took no direct damage as it fired it's own red beam into the Shiva. Here the beam hit the shield but didn't break it while a following two shots from the Shiva destroyed the Reaper Capital ship. The problem was that there were a lot more Reaper ships in orbit then there were Tau'ri and even with the Tau'ri forces making the Capital ships focus on them the Asari defense fleet was in for a slugging match against the Reapers.

Here the Reaper's ships had the advantage, the Asari like every race native to the Galaxy had built their whole society around Element Zero and the Mass Effect fields. Their weapons used them to shoot rounds at their enemies and they were used to both power their ships and to travel across the star. The Reapers having been through multiple cycles of harvest of civilizations had developed multiple counters to this technology giving them a massive upper hand. Still the number of rounds slamming into the Reaper barriers slowly began to bring them down. Even with the number advantage in ships the Asari where being overrun by thousands of tiny fighters which swarmed out from the Reaper ships.

Unknown to the Reapers hidden among the battle was a Tau'ri Akula class Stealth class ship and they had just finished plotting the information needed for their battle plan and had sent it out.

While the Reaper Dreadnoughts where slugging it out with the Tau'ri task force and the Asari fleets did battle with remaining Reaper ships the Reapers had emptied a hole in their lines. This hole was directly behind the Reaper frigates and destroyers engaging the Asari fleet. Now with all their enemies directly in front of them that wouldn't be an issue but that is where the Reapers made another mistake. Mass Effect powered hyperdrives couldn't be used closed to a planet's gravity, the gravity of the planet prevented it from happening. Tau'ri Hyperdrive had no such issues and that was used to the Tau'ri advantage.

Without warning seven flights of Eagle Fighters and four flights of Condor bombers most from the Battleship Shiva and the other ships in the task force exited hyperdrive within 2 kilometers of the Reaper ships, in space warfare this was akin to point blank range. The 42 Eagle fighters and 24 condors all turned toward the Reapers who all had their thinner rear hulls toward them. The rear hull also had the least amount of AA protection being the launching point for their drone fighters, all of whom where currently fighting the Asari.

"Target lock firing!" ordered the flight leaders as each of the Eagles fired two large pods from their wings which were sent flying out toward the Reapers. The Condors followed suit only instead of firing only two missiles each they began to rapid fire their missiles, each condor carried 35 missiles totally both on their wings and internally and with 24 condors, there was now 840 missiles from the Condors alone heading toward 30 Reaper ships, that was 28 missiles each and half of them carried nuclear tipped warheads while the others began to break apart releasing five glowing blue drones which shot forward to tear into their target. They The results where devastating as the Reapers tried to turn to meet this threat and to bring their thicker armor and stronger barriers into the fight. The point-blank range worked against them as the Tau'ri attack force reentered hyperspace just in time to avoid the blinding flash of almost 400 nuclear weapons going off at once across the span of several thousand kilometers as each ship in the Reaper fleet was hit at almost the same moment.

The flash was so bright that it was brighter than the systems star and the Asari on the ground could see it across half the planet. As the light faded however 30 Reaper ships, over half the attacking force in the Thessia system where wrecks and a good number of fighters had been destroyed as well. The Tau'ri drones which where based off the Ancient counterpart went to work to aid the Asari forces in destroying those who remained.

 **Onboard the Shiva there were cheers, as the battle report came in even as two more beams of Reaper beam energy racked the ship dropping the outer most shield to almost half its max strength.** For General Raj-Singh there was no cheering, he could see that while the Reapers had been destroyed on that flank, the Asari had paid a bloody price they had lost at least a 1/3rd of their remaining strength and he could already see that the Reaper force which was actually larger than the force the had just destroyed was now breaking their blockage of the Mass Relay and heading into the fight. The young Admiral saw it too.

"We got 10 minutes until they are within Range." said the Admiral as he looked down at his computer pad, the AI still had them winning this battle but the odds where down to 52.6%. Still they were committed to this fight, they had to see it through.

 **The Asari commandos holding position couldn't believe what they were seeing as the Reaper destroyer was taking multiple hits.** On their own it didn't seam like each of the rounds hitting the Reaper was all that powerful compared to what they where used to but either it was the numbers hitting the Reaper or it was passing through the Reaper's barriers either way the Reaper was clearly taking a lot of damage.

"What kind of weapon is hitting it?" inquired one of the Commandos as they watched the fire plunge down on it from above but yet they couldn't see the tracers from Mass Effect rounds.

"I have no idea." explained the commander as suddenly her Omni-tool began to flash. She looked away from the battle and pulled up a coded message from command.

"Expect reinforcements, hold fire!" ordered the commander as her team stood by. Within a couple of minutes multiple strange ships, she nor anyone else had seen before appeared from behind them. It wasn't a normal transport it was too bulky, and it had wings which really threw them off. The black aircraft came in low and fast before coming to a standstill over their base.

"Hold." Ordered the commander as the crafts came to a hover inches above the ground. Jumping from side doors on each craft where multiple figures dressed in an urban camo pattern battle armor that none of them had seen before. They held strange weapons but they had yet to start shooting.

"Commander Fulina!" yelled one of them as the Commander of the commando squad holding this location moved forward as the one who yelled her name rushed forward.

"Commander?" inquired the figure

"I am Commander Fulina." Said the Asari

"I am Captain Zachary Taylor, Tau'ri 7th Armored forward Artillery Spotters." stated the man as he pressed a button the side of his helmet making the camo pattern which covered the visor area become clear as glass, to show a pink skinned male of a race she had only seen on the news right before the Reapers attacked.

"We are going to set up a forward fire base for the armored attack force." stated Taylor

"What armored force?" inquired the Commander

"Elements of the 7th Armored Division is only about 5 minutes down that road." explained Taylor pointing down the road. "They will blow through here and punch their way throw Reaper lines to make contact with your trapped forces. Then they will roll up the Reapers and push them back."

To Commander Fulina it sounded crazy, roll up the Reapers to push them back? Was this Tau'ri insane or just stupid but yet he sounded like it would be a simple task.

"Where did they come from? How did you get an armored division on Thessia in the middle of a Reaper attack?" inquired the Commander

"We have our ways, either way do you have wounded or civilians who need to be evacuated our Owls are heading back." Explained Taylor as he pointed toward their transports, she figured that they were called Owls and simply nodded and pointed to a building.

"Get the wounded onto the transports." Ordered the commander

"Don't worry about if they all fit we have a way to get about 100 people on each transport." Explained Captain Taylor as Commander Fulina looked at the transports, it looked like they could hold maybe 24 people on each transport but yet they claim to hold about four times the number of people.

"How?" inquired one of her soldiers

"A Matter transport device." explained Captain Taylor as one of the Owls sent out a beam of light to it's side and out of that light appeared a large gun. Once it appeared multiple Tau'ri began to rush around it as they moved it into a firing position. Out of the other four owls came two more guns and two large supplies of ammo for the gun. "A little gift from one of our old enemies in the Pegasus Galaxy."

"And you can move people in that thing?" inquired the commander as Captain Taylor nodded his head.

"Yes, we tend not to unless we have too." Explained Captain Taylor "Too much of a risk and the men don't like it all that much."

"Why…what is wrong with it?" inquired Commander Fulina as the wounded began to be carried out of the building which had been used as a field hospital. "What will it do to us?"

"Nothing." Confirmed Captain Taylor "However if the Owl gets shot down then there is a possibility that those people within the transport buffer will die instantly."

The commandos all looked at each other, they could understand why soldiers wouldn't like being transported in something like that. If the transport was heading into a combat zone and get shot down those in the transport beam would die without even the chance to bail out. So instead of making the Tau'ri soldiers unhappy their commanders used it to transport cargo which if lost would be a blow but no one would die. Still if that was their best bet to get the civilians out of harms way it was what they had to do.

"Move!" yelled Commander Fulina as the civilians rushed forward, they where as confused as the Asari commandos at first when they were packed together into groups at the side of the transports. Then with flashes of light they were dematerialized and stored within the ship. With that the Owls lifted back off the ground and headed away from the battlefield. Passing over destroyed buildings and refugees which moved along roads full of abounded vehicles and the like.

 **The Asari military forces had tried their best to keep three of the large highways clear to allow quick movement of personal to the front and evacuation of civilians.**

"You need to get off the road!" yelled one of the Asari cops to a large group of refugees who were attempting to get on the road which would quickly lead them to the nearest refugee center.

"Why not, the road is clear!" countered one of the refugees as she pointed at the empty four lane highway.

"Orders from the Military, we need to keep these roads clear of all civilians!" yelled the cop as she heard those strange screeches in the air and the ground rumbling under them. "Now get on one of the side streets and keep moving!"

"No, we need to get on that road, we need to get out of here fast and we can't do it down that road, so get out of our way or we will all die!" yelled the leader of the band of refugees as Biotic energy gathered around her hands. "Now get out of our way!"

"Stay back!" ordered the Cop, in truth she didn't know why they had to keep this road open, there didn't seem to be anyone coming up or down it at the moment. As far as she could see there was no reason why not to allow the refugees to use the roads.

Then they heard it, it was a roar of multiple engines all heading their way. It didn't sound like the engines of any of the vehicles used on Thessia. There was no buzzing sound of mass effect fields as they pushed cars into the air allowing them to fly, no this was a deep throaty roar. The cop and the refugees both headed out onto the road and looked down only to see a strange vehicle come racing around the far bend in the road. Then there were more than one of the strange vehicles and multiple different kinds, some of them where wheeled and others where on treads.

"What the?" inquired the police officer as the lead vehicle rushed pass followed by others.

 **Standing around a large holographic table in the remains of what he was told was a scented candle shop General Jager looked across the table where the Local Asari General.** The German armored General leaned over and looked at the real time battle data coming in from overhead drones which showed his advancing armored force moving down two of the three cleared roads as fast as possible. They had leaped out toward the enemy and where now advancing toward contact as fast as possible. The issue was that he didn't like how little they knew of the Reaper's positions. They were doing this on the fly, which is something none of the senior officer liked but knew that they wouldn't be able to hide their forces for long so they had only a few hours for recon.

"Artillery is doing well Sir." Said his Artillery commander as the field guns rained death on the enemy positions.

"Strange." Stated the Asari General "Your weapons are more advance versions of weapons we abounded thousands of years ago, your artillery for example are propelled by powder and the line instead of mass effect fields."

"That is true, however a mass accelerated weapon has a pretty flat field of fire, it can go one hell of a distance, but it always hits head on. With ours we get plunging fire which brings its own benefits." Explained General Jager "Still I am not a fan of our current situation, we can hit them hard, save your people all well and good but we can't push them back far and keeping my forces supplied is going to be a nightmare."

"We are working as hard as we can on that Sir." Stated his supply officer "We currently have enough power cores for 10 days and each tank and fighting vehicle has enough for 3 days of fighting and the artillery has 4 days worth of shells."

Jager rubbed his chin, he had been in the military since he was a teenager, he had seen combat on Earth in the run up to the unveiling of the Stargate mostly anti-warlord missions in Africa before going to Valhalla to get into the copula of a Leopard III main battle tank. He had seen the nuclear blast which started the colonial war and had been on Tauron when the Colonials surrender. He knew that the military accountants who seemed to love to count everything down to the number of paper clips used and managed them always provided a lot of shells and bullets to fire at the enemy when it came to combat loads and during the entire Tauron invasion each vehicle hadn't even shot out a full combat load. Still every battle was different, and he didn't like this one at all not one bit.

"First load of civilians are coming in." reported operations as Jager nodded his head.

"Your forces are advancing as well?" inquired Jager to his Asari counterpart, he could have checked the live feed from the drone but that seamed rude and this was her world after all not his.

"Yes, they are." confirmed the General "We are advancing and the forces within the Calina pocket should be counter attacking as well."

"Good." Stated Jager as he turned to his Intelligence officer. "Do we know where the enemy Command Post is?"

"Sir, they don't seam to use that." admitted Intelligence "The Reapers project a field which gives them direct control over their forces and at a distance they can give more general orders which their forces will follow."

"I see." stated Jager, that took a basic rule of war out of play. He couldn't remove the chain of command and destroy communication between each of the enemy's forces. "Do we know where they are amassing?"

"Yes." confirmed Intelligence as she pulled up a holographic image of park within the Calina pocket, they could see a large number of Reaper forces gathered on one side of the park firing at the Asari defenders while captured Asari where being forced onto those large spikes which began to turn them into more Reaper forces.

"By the Goddess, I have seen images of this but this is live?" inquired the General

"Five second delay, wish it was less but we have limited support here Sir…sorry Madam." explained Intelligence

"Artillery, I want Mini's fired on this position and I want it now." ordered Jager as his artillery commander nodded his head and sent the order out.

 **In the distance hidden under a small holographic projection system which masked their location sat dozens of mobile artillery pieces.** The guns where firing as fast as possible their crews loading the shells and sending them down range as fast as possible, they couldn't count on the Reapers not having Fire Finding radars which would be able to track the shells in the air so they would fire five rounds and then move to another location firing as they went.

"Special order command wants Mini's!" yelled the battery commander as the gun crews loaded shells which were painted a blue color and after getting their target location, they sent the shells down range. The shells where special, each of them only had six of the shells in each of the vehicles and as quickly as the man working the shells each of them sent three of the shells down range.

In total over 50 shells went screaming down range, as they neared their target the sides of the shells fell away to reveal a complex mess of small holding containers. In each container was a small squid like object which began to give off a blue glow as they neared the target. Once overhead they were released making a swarm of tiny mini drones. These drones whereas close to copies of the Ancient anti-personal drones that teams in the Pegasus galaxy had come across a few times and as one they moved to attack their targets. They were programed to attack anything which wasn't human or Asari and they did just that, swarming around the Reaper ground forces killing them with ease as they heated up and burned their way through flesh and metal. This ate up their power and once it at a pre-programed level the drones slammed into one final target before self-destruction taking the target with them.

" **By the Goddess." Said the Asari general as she watched the effects of the fire from her position behind the lines. "Where has this been?"**

"Well we don't take a long time to figure develop them and they are still being made." Admitted Jager he had asked the same question once he had learned of them, they would have won the colonial war within hours not that they really needed them. He would never admit it but in a lot of ways the Asari and the other races of this galaxy where more advanced than the Tau'ri, yes the Tau'ri had access to much more advanced technology from the Ancients and Asgard but a lot of Tau'ri had no real idea how the technology worked. Jager himself had no idea how this holographic table worked or how to build power armor, the Asari at least seamed to understand their technology. Then again that maybe wasn't fully true, Jager had noticed that the younger generation coming of age now seamed to understand the technology in ways he never would, maybe his daughter back on Mars would find all the technology he couldn't understand as simple as the wooden blocks she was playing with now. Still overall the Tau'ri had a long road to go to be a great race in his personal view, there were too many worlds which were under developed, too many former Goa'uld slaves who were now Tau'ri who could barely write their own name, his people still had a long way to go. He forced his mind back to the task at hand.

 **The Vanguard of the 7** **th** **armored forces rushed past the fix defenses that the Asari had placed up and entered the killing ground where no Asari assault force had come out alive from.** The moment they entered the field they began to take fire from the Reaper forces but the rain of fire coming down from their artillery support suppressed some of the fire and the Tau'ri responded with their own fire. Here once again the fact that the Tau'ri used a totally different type of technology then any other power in this galaxy came into effect. The mass effect weapons that the Asari, Turians and every other race used fired very small shots at extremely high speeds, the force of the small round hitting anything would be devastating to anyone who didn't have barriers. Since everyone used them everyone had barriers and the Reapers had barriers stronger than anything ever seen before by the races of this galaxy. The Tau'ri fired much larger rounds at slower speeds but since all their rounds had Naquadah tips they went straight through barriers and destroyed the target with ease.

The Alligator light tank and the handful of Leopard III main battle tanks provided fire support forming a base of fire as they kept the Reaper's head down as the infantry moved up in Cougar APC and Puma Recon vehicles. They crossed the field and entered the war-torn city and cut into the Reaper lines. Unlike the battle strategy of the Turians, Krogans and by a lesser extent the Asari the Tau'ri made no attempt to force the entire Reaper line back but instead they breached the line and went into the rear area to destroy everything they could that could aid the Reapers. The ground war was going according to plan.

 **Behind the Asari lines Dr. Samantha O'Neill, Mordin and dozens of Tau'ri marines stepped out of the gate having just seconds ago stepped through the gate on Valhalla.** For Sam and Mordin it was confusing to find themselves not in an organized camp where civilians where being loaded up in orderly groups to travel through the gate to the refugee camps on Valhalla only to find semi-organized panic. The air was full of smoke and skyscrapers in the distance where on fire and before their eyes one of them actually fell. People all of them Asari where pushing against MPs both Asari and Tau'ri where holding them back as supplies came through the gate.

"Stay back!" Shouted a man over a load speaker as the nearby sound of heavy field guns going off followed by the scream of rocket fire added to the panic in the crowd.

"What is going on? I thought we were going to the Citadel?" inquired Sam

"No Doctor." explained the soldier "They moved the gate, beamed it down to this world…Thessia I believe it is so that we can help the Asari."

"Yes, this is Thessia." Confirmed Morton "I recognize some of the skyline."

"Doctor O'Neill!" yelled a voice as a man rushed toward them

"Here!" yelled Sam back as a flight of Owls landed nearby and before their eyes rematerialized a large group of civilians before landing and unloading the others. When they landed groups of soldiers with a handful of Asari commandos rushed onboard and within seconds the Owls where back in the air.

"Welcome to Thessia, sorry to drop you in a combat zone but the gate was needed here." Apologized the soldier "We have orders to get you onboard a Snow Owl and off world as fast as possible. No Idea why?"

"We carry the cure for the Genophage and with that we can bring the Krogans into the war." Answered Morton

"Never meet a Krogan before but we can use all the help we can get; we are at the end of our logistical string here." Stated the officer as he led the two of them toward a Owl which was sitting beside a large tracked vehicle with a series of projectors on it. Sam recognized it at once, it was a holographic projector which was commonly used to hide areas from visual observation by projecting a holographic image of whatever the Tau'ri wanted them to see. The Owl was waiting for them as MPs kept civilians back.

"Welcome onboard." greeted the load master as the two of them walked onboard to find that beside the two pilots, the load master and two of them the hold was empty. A Snow Owl, which was the stealth version of a regular Owl transport could carry at least 18 troops plus the crew, so they had room for 16 more people. "I'll tell the pilots we can take off."

"What about the people? We can take those people off world?" inquired Sam

"Sorry Doctor O'Neill, we can't do that and we can't be sure any of them aren't under Reaper control." Explained the pilot "We can't risk your safety."

"Sadly, he is correct." Confirmed Mordin as the Owl's engines started up as Sam grumbled and finally sat down as the Owl picked up as people screamed for help. The Owl cloaked as soon as it left the ground leaving the innocent people behind in a burning city.

"Are they letting people leave through the Gate?" inquired Sam over the radio link to the pilot.

"No, Madam the gate is only bringing in supplies nothing else." Answered the pilot as Rage built within Sam at the stupidity going on all around her. Even as the Owl flew out of Thessia's atmosphere.

"The Asari defense fleet appears to have taken a lot of damage but I don't see any Reapers in orbit." Stated Mordin as he looked at a Data pad which gave him access to the gun and side mounted cameras.

"Sensors show a Reaper force around the Relay heading in but aside from Reapers on the ground Space is ours." Reported the Pilot "Alright, here we go."

There was nothing else to be said as a hyperspace portal opened, and the Owl entered hyperspace leaving Thessia behind.

 **With the space above Thessia fully under the control of what remained of the Asari defense fleet and the Tau'ri they began to carry out multiple strikes across the planet.** Their targets where simple, the smaller Reaper destroyers which were used as skyscraper size ground vehicles which destroyed everything in their path. The fight had been a slugfest and the Tau'ri ships where visibility damaged but still in the fight and now they turned toward the oncoming Reaper force which had been guarding the Mass Effect Relay leaving attacking the ground forces to the Asari defense force and some of their own strike craft.

"Outer shields are down; inner shields are at 85%." reported operations as repair crews went to work to bring the outer bubble shield back up.

"ETA till Reaper force arrival is 5 minutes." Stated Sensors as the crews kept working on repairing the ship all the while the large rail guns fired down at ground targets on Thessia. Missiles where also being fired at a high rate of speed toward targets on the ground as they attempted to clear out as many of the Reapers as possible from above. Some of these missiles where armed not with high expolosives but with Dragon Fire warheads, these had special targets. They where the camps where the Reapers turned biomass of the captured races into new ships. The missiles slammed into the large buildings which contained the still being constructed Reapers which instantly caught fire. Normally fire would be no threat to a Reaper however this was Dragon fire and it would burn until nothing remained and it burned hot enough to melt even Naquadah armor and it did the same with the Reapers on the ground.

"New Contacts by the Relay." Shouted Sensors as over 60 Reaper ships exited the Relay and began to from a battle line as they headed toward Thessia.

"Just as we hoped." Said General Raj-Sign with a smile, one of the Normandy class stealth ships had spotted a Reaper force leaving the Barartarin home world and so far they hadn't shown up yet. Intelligence had guessed that the Reaper forces would show up at the capital world of one of the three main races and that the most likely target would be Thessia. "Good, then it is time we begin."

"Inform General Jager, order the Asari fleet and our Destroyers to go into the Atmosphere." ordered the Admiral as the orders where sent out, only the very highly placed commanders in the Tau'ri and Asari command knew of this part of the plan. They couldn't risk the Reapers knowing about it.

 **The head of this Reaper fleet was named Dominion and he had been among the oldest of the Reapers having been made during the 7** **th** **cycle.** He like every other of the Reapers where hyper intelligent and carried within them knowledge of every battle strategy ever done by thousands of races. Still he was slightly confused by the movements of his current enemy, they had cleared the space over Thessia but instead of forming a battle line to meet his oncoming force instead they where falling back into the Atmosphere. The only ships staying up in space where the larger Tau'ri ships and the dreadnought class Asari ships.

"Be prepared for a surprise attack from the sides or the rear." Alerted Dominion as it focused on those flanks even as it advanced.

 **Down on the planet General Jager took a deep breath.**

"Gate is away General, and it has left the system." reported the operator officer as Jager nodded his head.

"We got about 77% of the supplies we needed from Vahalla through the gate before it was withdrawn." Reported Operations.

"It will have to do." Confirmed Jager "Active our little surprise."

"Will do Sir." Said communications as a broadcast was sent out.

Far away from the battlefield in the high mountains of the Northern most land mass sat an ancient temple to one of the Asari Goddess. It had long ago been abounded and was now only a tourist destination and not a good one at that and in the middle of Winter like it was now, it was closed do to cold weather. Five squads of Tau'ri special forces had taken it over without the knowledge of any local Asari or even most of the Tau'ri command and had set up possibly one of the most advance piece of technology the Tau'ri had. On the outside it was no bigger than a coffee table but it's effects where massive as it sent a field of energy out across the planet up into the edge of space.

"Phasing out in 3…2…1." Said one of the multiple technicians as the device came to life.

Out in space, the entire planet shimmered a bit before vanishing totally from sight and every other type of sensors. This caught the Reapers by surprise as an entire planet disappeared before them leaving only the handful of Tau'ri ships and the Asari dreadnoughts. The likely answer of a cloaking field was quickly ruled out as the Asari ships being towed by the Tau'ri ships traveled straight through where the planet of Thessia had been. It made no sense; a whole planet had just disappeared. Then alarms went off as a Tau'ri ship they had never seen before appeared beside the Mass Effect Relay, a field of energy shot out and the ship along with the Relay disappeared in a similar shimmer leaving the Reaper fleet trapped in an empty system.

Down on the Planet Jager and the Asari General stepped out of their command center and looked up, the sky was shimmering a strange color.

"What is going on?" inquired the Asari General as suddenly a Reaper Dreadnought appeared above them, it was shimmering like the sky as it came in for a landing. However when it's legs reached the ground there was no sound and instead of stopping the Reaper just passed right through and disappeared into the ground.

"We Dimension shifted the whole planet." explained Jager "It's one of it not our most powerful defensives tools, we are currently just out of phase with the rest of this universe and sit between our dimension and another. The Reapers can't touch us here."

Jager's jaw had hit the floor when he had been first briefed about this technology and it turned out this technology had been around since before the Stargate was announced to the world. That had lead to a lot of questions like how come Valhalla didn't just shift to this dimension shield when the Colonials attacked and what was the point of even having a defensive fleet with technology like this. Then he learned the down side, no communications either in or out, no way to find out what was happening outside of the little bubble you trapped yourself in and the power demands where extremely high, as in five ZPMs where required to keep a planet out of phase for any reasonable time. That demand for power made it not a practical defense until the method to make ZPMs where discovered after the Colonial War. Now he knew that almost every major Tau'ri planet had at least one shift generator as a last resort defense.

"By the Goddess, Thessia is safe." Stated an aid to the Asari General before more gunfire broke out in the distance.

"Besides the Reapers already here." countered Jager "They can't get reinforcements but neither can we, we are trapped in here with them. We aren't getting any supplies in and we are not going to be aiding the war outside either. Still billions of people are now safe."

"Still we can handle the Reapers here." Stated the Asari General

"Let's hope." confirmed Jager


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21 Battle of Tuchanka Part 1**

The Normandy came out of hyperspace in the deep void of space, far beyond any point which the Reapers could reach or any other ship which used mass effect drives. It however wasn't the first ship to reach this spot, a small Tau'ri snow owl transport had beat them to the spot. The Owl was tiny compared to the Normandy even though the Normandy wasn't that large of a ship. Once the Normandy exited hyperspace, it opened its cargo bay door located in the rear of the ship which allowed the Snow Owl to make the tight approach to come in for a landing right next to the Alligator Light tank which also sat in the cargo bay. Once onboard the ramp raised back up and the Normandy turned almost 90 degrees and opened a new hyperspace window and disappeared back into subspace.

"Sam is back onboard." Said Ashley as Torren nodded his head.

"Good." Said Torren as he looked at the display in front of him, the Normandy had already entered hyperspace and was already heading toward the Krogan home world of Tuchanka.

"Is something wrong Torren?" inquired Ashley

"Nothing really, just a little tired didn't get much sleep last night." Admitted Torren as Ashly nodded her head in understanding.

"Well it will be a few hours until we reach Tuchanka might as well get some sleep." advised Ashely

"Wish I could, we have a meeting in 10 minutes and who knows what will happen after that." stated Torren as he stretched a bit. "This would be so much easier if we could just call in the 7th fleet or the 12th fleet for that."

"Or better, the 7th, 12th and 18th fleets." added Ashley, it was public knowledge that those three fleets where the main fast reaction attack fleets in the Tau'ri navy, the rest of the fleets had a more defensive role. The 7th and 18th fleets where stationed in the Milky way galaxy while the 12th was the main attacking fleet in the Pegasus galaxy. There were other fleets, in fact each major world had a fleet or task force watching over them. Some fleets where in truth only a half dozen ships but it made the people of the worlds, they protected feel better to have a fleet watching over them. In truth the three fleets of the 7th, 12th and 18th held just under half the entire Navy power, with the bulk of the remaining power shared between the 1st, 3rd, 8th and 21st fleets. Almost 90% of all Tau'ri warships where split between those seven fleets.

While the 7th, 12th and 18th fleets were designed to go deal with trouble the other four where designed to protect key locations. The 1st fleet was the largest and most heavily armed but it protected the very core of Tau'ri space, Earth, Mars and Venus while the 3rd fleet watched over Vahalla and the 12 colonies of Kobol, they where smaller in number then the 1st fleet but being the protector of the main shipyard of the Tau'ri meant they had some of the newest ships. The 9th fleet was the strangest, it protected the Ori super gate which was the gateway into the galaxy, they weren't alone a joint task force of every space born power in the Milky way guarded that position. While the 21st fleet did the same in the Pegasus galaxy only they had to defend the gate and Atlantis.

"I heard they are rushing the TAV O'Neill and it will be in the lead once the gate is finished." Added Torren

"Any idea what the O'Neill is capable of doing?" inquired Ashley "They have kept that under wraps."

"No clue, but it is the next generation of battleships so I would expect it to be better than the Missouri class battleships we currently have." explained Torren as he rubbed his chin. "No matter we better get to the conference room."

When the two of them arrived, they found Sam, Mordin, Liara, Garrus, Tali, Miranda, Grunt and the female Krogan which was named Eve waiting for them. Seconds after they arrived the doors locked as a holographic EDI appeared as well.

"You have a cure?" inquired Grunt

"We do." Stated Mordin

"In fact we have to thank the splicers for it." Laughed Sam as the Tau'ri groaned a bit as everyone else looked confused. Sam tapped her computer pad as an image of her younger self appeared only her hair was a bright neon blue instead of a light brown. "This is me, when I was 17 and that is my "natural" hair, one of the little side developments from the Asgard gene research was a way to modify DNA across the body and replace it with new DNA strains. Most commonly this is used to modify a person's hair or eye color anything more advance requires Doctors and much more advance technology."

"What does this have to do with curing the Genophage!" snapped Wrex

"We aren't curing it." explained Mordin as Wrex raised his fist to slam it onto the table. "We are going to modify it instead."

"What do you mean?" inquired Eve stopping Wrex's fist from striking the table.

"Instead of curing the Genophage we are going to modify it to make it another layer of defense in the already insane levels of Krogan biological defenses." Explained Sam, she remembered how the multiple Tau'ri doctors had looked on in amazement at the number of extra organs and the like inside the Krogan body. The Krogans even had a whole second neural network in case the 1st one was damaged, and the major organs minus the brain had at least 2 if not three backups when only one was required. "And we will modify it in a way to defend the growing fetus against being exposed to any reintroduction of the Genophage."

"Reintroduction…what does that mean?" inquired Wrex

"Not every Krogan is on your home world and the way the Salarians developed the genophage it is can be spread by airborne and most of all by the exchange of the bodily fluid." explained Sam "My modifying the genophage instead of attempting to remove it we will prevent any reinfection of the genophage by uncured Krogans."

"I see." said Eve as Wrex grumbled a bit.

"Still computer models predict that the cure isn't 100% effective but given the timetables it is our best option." stated Sam

"No cure is 100% effective." Added Miranda "Just like no virus is 100% deadly."

"How much is it off?" inquired Eve

"It is 87.6% effective in computer simulations and a follow up physical injection of the cure raises it to 97.8% effectiveness." explained Mordin "A very high percentage all things considering, I would recommend after spreading the cure using the Shroud we follow up with a traditional immunization program after the war."

"We will take it." confirmed Eve

"Good, because that is all we got." admitted Sam

"How long to reach Tuchanka?" inquired Garrus

"Five hours at our current rate in hyperspace and then another 30 minutes at sunlight." answered EID "Protocol is not to come out of hyperspace within a system do to the risk of hitting an object or in this case a waiting Reaper trap."

"Alright what about Thessia." inquired Liara as she looked at the Tau'ri. "I have been following broadcasts out of Thessia and then it all stopped."

The Tau'ri shared a look between each other as fear began to build within the Citadel races.

"Well Thessia is still there, don't worry about that but it is currently cut off from all communication and the entire galaxy in truth." Stated Miranda "We used a device we called a Universal Phase Cloak on it."

"You can cloak an entire planet?" inquired Liara in amazement, cloaking was common enough but the power requirements would be extremely high. "Cloaking an entire planet wouldn't be of much help, wouldn't it be."

"True, even if the Reaper couldn't see what they are attacking they can destroy something that is invisible." Stated Garrus as he wondered how smart the Tau'ri really are, cloaking a whole planet seemed a little pointless.

"It isn't cloaked, it is phased out with this universe." Explained Torren "It is sitting between this universe and another universe, in its own pocket universe very close to our own. Nothing can go into the planet but nothing can get off it as well."

"It's basically trapped within a bubble." Explained Ashley who didn't understand it at all, Miranda rolled her eyes at the simplest explanation but didn't correct it.

"Still if the Reapers can't get to it, we can use more of them to save billions if not trillions of lives." Countered Garrus until he saw the look on Torren's face. "You don't have enough of them, do you?"

"In a way, from my understand and this is all unofficial, my father told me about them when I wasn't supposed to know. They are a huge drain on power, one of them can burn through a ZPM in 2 days and that is risking the ZPM exploding and if that happens say goodbye to half the planet at best and the whole system at worse." explained Torren as even his fellow Tau'ri eyes widened at that, they didn't know about the power requirements or what could happen when a ZPM went critical. "Likely they sent four or five to help balance the power needs but that isn't the real issue. We just don't have enough ZPMs to do it."

"And there is the other issue." stated Miranda as she entered the conversation. "Yes, the planet is in a pocket universe, but it is now free of the gravity pull of the home system's star, of any gravity outside of its own. Given the speed of the Thessia and its position in orbit, it will drift outside of the habitual zone for the system in 5 days. Even if it came out now, it would have drifted far enough to change the number of days in a year."

"By the Goddess." Exclaimed Liara "So in 5 days, Thessia will be uninhabitable?"

"Not at first but it would move out of the habitual belt and it would need some terra forming to stay habitual, but say this was goes on for a month then no amount of terra forming will be enough because Thessia would have left the system all together." Explained EDI "However we currently estimate that the Super gate will be assembled within five to seven days, once opened reinforcements can begin to arrive in mass from our galaxy and we can begin taking real offensive operations against the Reapers."

"What is the status of the Reaper's attempt to rebuild their super gate the one that was the Citadel?" inquired Sam

"We don't have access to that level of information." Stated EDI "Truth be told, the construction time frame of our own Super gate is based off my own best estimates not information from high command."

"I see." Stated Liara

"We should all be ready to arrive at Tuchanka in 4 and a half hours." Stated Sheppard a Garrus nodded, in truth he couldn't order Garrus or his team around they where not under his command but even he saw the importunate of getting ready for combat before one reached a combat area.

"I will send a message ahead to the other chieftains to meet in the Hallows outside the Spire, they will clear the way for us to make a ground landing." Stated Wrex

"Not needed, we can beam down to the Shroud and take it." Explained Sam as the other Tau'ri looked at her. "What?"

"Reports came in, that two Reaper ships now hold the Shroud." explained Ashley, "While the Krogan homeworld is not a primary target of the Reapers, it would appear they are either attempting to poison the atmosphere to kill the Krogans without a fight."

"Good luck with that." Chuckled Wrex

"Or they have gathered intelligence likely from the Salarians that we are going to cure the Genophage and have secured the position." explained Torren "I lean toward this one, personally and so does high command."

"If that is the case why not just destroy the Shroud and be done with it." Countered Liara

"Bait." announced Garrus as Torren nodded his head.

"The Reapers know that we need it and that while they are close to it we can't carry out a nuclear strike like we normally would and even a beam shot from orbit carries the risk of destroying the shroud so if we are to use the spire we will have to go in on the ground." Stated Torren "I wouldn't be surprised either if there is a trap of some kind, if the Reapers get a hold of FTL travel then we are all in a world of hurt."

"Depending on the type of FTL they got a hold of." added Miranda as the Citadel members looked at her. "We have different types of FTL drives, if the Reapers got their hands on any of them we would be in a galaxy worth of trouble but if they got their hands on a short range FTL drive from a Eagle Fighter it wouldn't be as bad as if they got the intergalactic drive on military level drive from one of our warships. Or worse the newest intergalactic drive on the Prometheus. If they got that they could reach the nearest galaxy in a few days and our galaxy within a year or so."

"That is our biggest fear, if the Reapers get ahold of that, then they could take this harvesting cycle to other galaxies and the countless trillions in each." explained EDI "Standing orders are to destroy the hyperdrives, all AI ships have that as part of the self-destruct system and our smaller ships have been armed with self-destructs as well."

"So you have nothing to worry about." Stated Liara

"Self-destructs are never perfect." Stated Tali her voice was a little worried which caused everyone to look at her.

"Tali…is something wrong?" inquired Garrus with real concern in her voice as she looked down at the table.

"I got a coded message from the Migrant Fleet…they are preparing to launch a full attack on the Geth to reclaim our home world and save our race." explained Tali as what passed for a groan among the Turrians came from Garrus and Liara shook her head in frustration.

"That is the last thing we need, we don't need to be fighting each other in the middle of a war with the Reapers." Stated Liara

"Agreed, the Quarians would be more then welcomed to join the fight anywhere in the galaxy." added Garrus

"I agree, however our leaders know that the council would never allow us to do this any other time." stated Tali "Our species can't keep living as a mirgarnt fleet and in suits we need to our world back."

"Couldn't you terra form new worlds?" inquired Ash "I know it is your homeworld, and God knows if Earth was taken every single Tau'ri would be fighting to get it back but if you start a war with the Geth won't they just go over to the Reapers and we will all lose faster."

"Quarians have a very unique biology which would make settling any word outside of their home world hard." explained Sam as she looked at Tali "Some of our doctors have been having issues settling Quarians refugees from the Citadel. We had to set up clean rooms and none of them want to try a solution we offered."

"What solution?" inquired Tali

"A medical shield." Explained Sam "They are low level shields which surround a person, keeps all dirt, germs and the like out but still allows physical objects to pass. Those objects are cleaned of said germs and the like when they enter the field. We use them all the time now during surgery. Highly reliable and could cover your whole body…you could walk around nude if you wished and be protected by it. None of the Quarians want to try it, too risky they said."

"What are the risks?" inquired Tali as she looked at the device, sharing a sideline glance at Garrus wondering if he was thinking the same thing as her. It would be nice to feel him, to brush her hand across his face without the suit, to a Quarian that was the sign of deepest love because it risked death from germs to be out of the suit.

"Power is the main issue, spreading it out over the whole body would drain it in a day or so you would have to keep recharging them." explained Sam "Nothing more than that, really. We can't be sure because we have only really used it on humans and human like species. The most different species that we have used it on are some Unas and the Race."

"The Race?" inquired Garrus

"Don't ask…they are basically a lizard like race who are so self-centered that they named themselves, the Race." Explained Sheppard "We are getting off topic, we need to be ready for a fight. Sam if you want to talk to Tali about this more feel free, EDI send a message to Admiral Hackett informing him about what the Quarians are about to do. Maybe we can get the Cylons or someone to talk to them."

"Worth a shot." confirmed Miranda

"I am going to get some rest, see you in a few hours." confirmed Torren as he stood up and left the room.

 **Onboard the Prometheus II Admiral Hackett monitored the going ones of the Tau'ri military forces under his command as best as he could.** It was mostly a defensive war from the Tau'ri point of view. The Omega system which was the only Relay which gave access to the construction site of the Super gate most the most important position in the galaxy in the view of the Tau'ri. That being said he had the bulk of his forces in this system and in the adjoining system as an early warning incase of attack. Word had gone out over the Citadel races communication channel that the Omega system was a place protected from the Reapers and so the Tau'ri had a refugee issue on their hand. The Tau'ri force was not equipped to handle the mass of refugees, they had prepared this to be a mostly scientific and base set up mission. They weren't loaded to fight a major war, which is what they were now asked to do.

"Another ship coming through the relay." Reported a sensor operator "ID beacon says it is the Asari ship Pillar of the North, life sign say it has 2,037 people onboard."

"Dock 19 is open in Omega." announced another operator

"Sending orders for them to cut their power and get ready to be towed in." reported the first operator as the two operators repeated something, they had said countless times before. Out of fears of a Kamikaze attack by some Reaper indoctrinated ship crew. They had come close when a cargo ship captain tried to ram a Galahad class Destroyer only to have it get stopped by a tractor beam. Then the ship had self-destructed but it was far enough away to do no damage to any warship but it did take the entire ship full of refugees nearly 5,000 souls to their deaths.

They had set up multiple layers of defense to help prevent indoctrinated people from getting past the refugee centers on Omega and to the Stargate which would take them to Valhalla. The Primary tool of this was the za'tarc detector which had become a favorite tool for Tau'ri military intelligence. This detected with a high level of probability if someone was lying even if they didn't know if they were lying about it to themselves. It wasn't perfect and in it was estimated that 7% of people could beat it, throw in Alien physical which wasn't fully understood then it was only believed to around 80% effective, still it was the best they had. So far they had captured over a hundred indoctrinated personally mostly Baratarins but with a growing number of Asari and Turrians. The indoctrinated personal where taken through the gate as well but under heavy guard and restrained and they wouldn't be able have freedom once on the other side. They had even gotten some Salarian STG forces in their net, they had been given a choose to leave or go through the gate under heavy guard. None of them had taken the second opition and instead they left the system.

"Admiral Hackett?" inquired a voice as Hackett turned to see Doctor Daniel Jackson walking up to him, Dr. Jackson was a hero of the Tau'ri and in truth he was Admiral Hackett's boss since he was head of this expection. That being said Jackson knew when to set aside and let the Miltary men take over military matters and had contented himself studying the known History of the Reapers and the Citadel Races being a diplomat.

"Doctor Jackson." said Hackett

"I was just contacted by the Dalatrass she the leader of the Salarians." explained Jackson

"Considering we just finished a short battle with them I know who she is." confirmed Hackett "What did she want?"

"She wants to make a deal with us." Explained Jackson as he pulled a small flash drive from his pocket and put it into a nearby port on a holographic table. Instantly a holographic version of the Dalatrass appeared.

"I will give you Tau'ri the benefit of forgiveness because you don't know what the Krogans can do and how they not the Reapers are the biggest threat to the galaxy." Stated the Dalatrass as she folded her arms over her body with a look of someone giving a huge gift.

"I would assume that the Reapers who are killing millions of people a day are a much larger threat then the Krogan." stated Daniel's voice on the recording.

"Maybe in the short term, but the Krogans are unorganized brutes and will join this war no matter what. They love a fight and aren't going to sit this one out." Countered the Dalatrass "With any luck they will destroy themselves if we play it right."

"What do you mean?" inquired Daniel's voice again.

"We know you plan to cure the Genophage and it is clear that the best way to do that is the Shroud." announced the Dalatrass "It would be a shame if the cure after being released by the Spire failed because some heating elements killed the cure you where releasing. But the Krogans wouldn't know that until it was too late and they were already fighting and if there is one thing true about a Krogan is that they will not run from a fight."

"There is only one member of your little group who can stop this, Mordin if he is stopped then the Krogan get their cure and we will join the war as well." Offered the Dalatrass

"Are you saying you want us to trick the Krogans and kill a member of your own race?" inquired Daniel's voice on the recording.

"Yes, one life to get a fleet and an army ready to go and fight, I would call that a great deal." Confirmed the Dalatrass as Hackett raised his hand and the video stopped.

"I hope you told her to go screw herself?" inquired Hackett

"Basically." confirmed Daniel "We need to send a message to the Normandy and to Sam as well."

"Comms…prepare a message to the Normandy and to the President as well." ordered Hackett

 **Even though he was tired Torren had trouble sleeping, his alarm went off way too soon.** He went down to the galley and got a breakfast with his crew, he could feel that they were tense but also sure of themselves. These where the men and women who were in their teens when the Stargate was revealed to the world, they had absorbed the information about the greater galaxy and how the Tau'ri had shaped it. They were also the veterans of the Colonial war where the Tau'ri had won a great and pretty easy victory, the way they saw it their victory was assured because men and women like SG-1 and others had overcome greater odds against enemies like the Goa'uld, Wraith and the Ori. They believed that the Reapers would be a similar enemy, a challenge yes but one that could be overcome like the others. Torren was slightly less sure; he had grown up with stories of not only Tau'ri victories but of near defeats and generations of his people getting feed on by the Wraith. He grew up in Atlantis the birthplace of the greatest race the universe had ever known and they had fallen, he knew that someday the same thing would happen to the Tau'ri he just hoped that it wouldn't be against the Reapers.

"Penny for your thoughts?" inquired Ashley as she sat down across from him with her own plate of food.

"You don't want them." said Torren with a slight grin as he looked at Ash

"No one wants to know what is going on in your mind." added a new voice as Sam sat down beside him. Torren rolled his eyes a bit, the two of them had a strange and special relationship. Both of them had played together when they were children in Atlantis, playing tag among the remains of the greatest city of the ancients. Sam was the granddaughter of the greatest hero in Tau'ri history and he was the stepson of another of the greatest heroes and son of another. "So what it the plan?"

"We land nearby the Spire and get the Krogan aid, destroy the Reaper forces in the area and then once the area is clear you and Mordin beam down with the cure and spread the cure." explained Torren

"What happened if the Spire is destroyed?" inquired Ash

"Then we have no good way to spread the cure and the Krogans are unlikely to join the war and therefor any real aid for the Turrians on Palaven is lost." answered Sam "So we have no pressure at all on us."

"None at all." Confirmed Torren as he finished his meal and headed toward the armory. He could see Garrus and his team preparing from the supplies they had on the Normandy and he did the same getting his SIR-15 and power armor on. He opted for a more general set up, no shoulder mounted guns or the like but with extra ammo and power supplies for his suit.

When he was done, he moved out into the cargo bay as the Normandy still under her cloak entered orbit of Tuchanka.

"EDI what do we have?" inquired Sheppard

"It is what we expected, two Reaper ships are positioned around the Shroud along with multiple ground force." Reported EDI as the sensors did detail sweep of the area around the Shroud. "They have a battalion worth of soldiers garrisoning the area with what seems to be small fire teams doing attacks on local Krogan camps."

"How many is in a Tau'ri Battalion because ours is 500 fighters." Inquired Garrus

"About the same, some battalions can be as low as 300 men, but most are around 800." explained Sheppard

"They currently have 650 fighters on the ground, however with their dragon teeth it is possible that those numbers will go up as they capture more Krogans to be added to their forces." Explained EDI as a holographic display of the soon to be battlefield appeared before them. Multiple glowing dots showed the location of the Reaper foot soldiers. "This is their locations to within 30 meters and 3 minutes ago."

"EDI will you be able to give us real time battle information?" inquired Ashely as the holographic image of EDI shock her head no.

"Sorry, I will be using the Normandy's systems to take down the large amount of fighter drones they will be sending your way." explained EDI as the images of multiple of the tiny drone fighters that the Reapers used.

"Will we be getting any support?" inquired Liara

"Not on our end." stated Torren "Our ships are tied up at the moment."

"It took everything to get our forces to Thessia and then we have to protect the building of the Super Gate." Explained Ashley "Other forces are tied up across the galaxy, we have a limited force here."

"Well lets get going." Said Torren as the Normandy entered the Atmosphere under it's cloak and passed unnoticed over the destroyed cities of the ancient Krogan civilization before coming to a landing spot outside of a large circle structure, there where multiple other vehicles already there. All of them reminded Torren of a kind of militarized monster truck with giant wheels and a large body with a heavy turret on top. The Normandy remained cloaked even as the ramp dropped down as James drove the Alligator light tank off the ship and compared to the other vehicles it seemed tiny. A few Krogans who were outside jumped up as the Alligator rolled off the ramp becoming visible as Garrus, Wrex and Torren stepped off first followed by the rest of their teams.

"James, Jack stay with the Alligator." Ordered Torren as they headed into the structure, the best thing that came to mind was it had to be some kind of fighting ring, a large but not too large platform with seats all around the ring.

"Welcome to the Hallows, this is our scared grounds." announced Wrex as multitude of Krogans looked down at them from the seats.

"How dare you bring one of enemies into our home!" yelled one of the larger males as he pointed at Mordin

"He is here to cure the Genophage." answered Wrex the threat clear in his voice.

"They were the ones who gave us the genophage." countered another male as multiple of their numbers pulled weapons and aimed it at Mordin and the visitors.

"And he is the one they want dead." announced Sheppard as he moved forward as all eyes fell on this strange visitor. "I am Major Torren Sheppard of the Tau'ri Marine force and only a few hours ago the Dalatrass offered my leadership a deal, a deal they refused to take."

"What sort of deal?" inquired Wrex as everyone was blindsided by the news as Shepard held out his hand holding a small disk. The disk began to glow as a holographic image of the Salarian leader appeared before the large gathering of Krogan war chef.

"We know you plan to cure the Genophage and it is clear that the best way to do that is the Spire." Stated the Dalatrass "It would be a shame if the cure after being released by the Spire failed because some heating elements killed the cure you where releasing. But the Krogans wouldn't know that until it was too late and they were already fighting and if there is one thing true about a Krogan is that they will not run from a fight. There is only one member of your little group who can stop this, Mordin if he is stopped then the Krogan get their cure and we will join the war as well."

"Are you saying you want us to trick the Krogans and kill a member of your own race?" inquired a new voice, likely a Tau'ri not that the Krogans really cared they were in a blood rage and they wanted to fight more than ever.

"Yes, one life to get a fleet and an army ready to go and fight, I would call that a great deal." Confirmed the Dalatrass, Sheppard tapped a side button as the hologram disappeared.

"Mordin isn't your enemy, he is your only hope to get a cure to the Genophage." Stated Torren

"How can we trust this Pink skinned creature!" yelled a Krogan

"Because I trust him." added Garrus as he moved forward. "I have fought beside Wrex and Grunt for years and we have always stood with Krogans."

"And they blasted some Salarians who tried to steal form them and prevent us from getting what we need for a cure." added Wrex "So you will trust them."

"Enough!" yelled a voice from behind them as everyone turned to see Eve standing on one of the staircases leading toward the arena. "You can stand around bickering like Krogans have always done or you can fight for a future for your children yet to come and destroy the enemy we were meant to. I choose to fight, now who is with me."

"We are." said Garrus

"So are we." added Sheppard

"I will fight." ordered Wrex as more and more a wild cry, a battle cry filled the area.

"Now there are Reapers that need to be destroyed and we will be the ones to do so!" yelled Wrex as the Krogans rushed out of the arena to get into their vehicles to prepare to ride off to war.

"So to your Alligator?" inquired Garrus

"Yes, but not all of us can go." explained Sheppard "There is room for 8 of us not counting the gunner, driver and the codriver. The rest will either must go with the other Krograns or beam down from the Normandy. With the Normandy in a battle, I recommend they ride with the Krogans. I need three of the spots, the other five are yours."

"Alright." said Garrus as he looked at his team. "Legion, Liara, Wrex, EVE and Mordin you're with me…Tali you will lead the others."

"Understood." confirmed Tali as they headed toward the Alligator, the back compartment opened up to show two rows of bench seats with fire ports in the troop area.

"James driver, Jack gunner, Miranda I want you in the co diver make sure our drones are up." ordered Sheppard as they nodded their understanding. "Ashley, Sam you're with me."

"Right." Said Miranda as she got into the codriver seat and with a push of a few buttons two missiles shot out of the sides of the Alligator, however once they flew a little bit into the air they extended wings and small engines propelled them forward as they began over watch of the area. Jack was more than happy to get into the small turret and prepared the rail gun for battle.

"Let's get going." Said Sheppard as they loaded up into the Alligator which shot forward moving alongside the much bigger Krogan vehicles as they headed straight toward the Spire and the Reapers there protecting it. The Krogan where going to war, a war to save their species and it was one they didn't plan on losing.

 **Well I hope you liked this chapter; it was basically a set up for the coming battle of Tuchanka which I have added both more Reapers and more Krogans to make it overall a bigger battle. Now until next time please keep reading, thanks Wilkins75.**


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